Histological and Functional Alteration in the Liver and Kidney and the Response of Antioxidants in Japanese quail Exposed to Dietary Cadmium

Effects of Cadmium on Kidney Function of the Freshwater Turtles Mauremys reevesii

This research studied the effects of cadmium on kidney function of the freshwater turtles Mauremys reevesii. Turtles were injected intraperitoneally with 0, 7.5, 15, and 30 mg kg^-1 cadmium separately for once. The samples were gathered to check the kidney index, the contents of TP in kidney tissue, and the levels of CRE and BUN in the plasma of the turtles. Results showed that the concentration of TP was overall decreased with the extension of cadmium exposure time and the increasing of the exposure dose of cadmium. The CRE content in the plasma of each treatment group increased with the prolongation of exposure time in a dose-dependent, and the BUN levels of all poisoned groups showed a trend of increasing. The kidney index of treated turtles increased. In summary, cadmium could induce the increase of turtle kidney index, the content of CRE and BUN in plasma, and the decrease of TP content in the kidney.

The effect of dietary coenzyme Q10 supplementation on egg quality and liver histopathology of layer quails under cadmium challenge

The demand for quail eggs has been increased over the last decade due to its beneficial nutritional quality characteristics; however, different nutritional and environmental stressors adversely impact the quality of the produced eggs. This study was conducted to investigate whether dietary supplementation of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) could mitigate the negative impact of cadmium (Cd) administration on egg quality and liver histopathology. A total of 162 six-week-old laying Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) were randomly allotted into three experimental groups. Treatments were as follows: (1) negative control (NC): feeding basal diet; (2) positive control (PC): feeding basal diet and Cd administration; and (3) CdQ10: feeding basal diet supplemented with CoQ10 (900 mg/kg diet) and Cd administration. Cadmium (10 mg/kg BW) was subcutaneously administrated at 10 and 11 weeks of age (woa). Feed conversion ratio (FCR), egg production, egg mass, mortality rate, Cd residue in egg, liver histopathology, and some internal and external egg quality indices were evaluated. Administration of Cd increased FCR in the PC group, but supplementation of CoQ10 partially ameliorated the impact of Cd on FCR (p < 0.05). Cadmium administration decreased both egg production and egg mass; however, CoQ10 supplementation partially mitigated these adverse effects of Cd injection in the CdQ10 compared to the PC group (p < 0.05). Cadmium decreased eggshell thickness and Haugh unit in PC quail compared to both NC and CdQ10 quail (p < 0.05). Moreover, egg yolk colour intensity was enhanced by CoQ10, where a* and b* indices were higher in CdQ10 compared to PC (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the current results demonstrate the beneficial effects of dietary CoQ10 supplementation on liver histopathology and some egg quality indices of Cd-challenged quail.