The Effects of Cadmium on Embryonic Developmental in Balb/c Mice

Cadmium belongs to the group of heavy metals and is one of the most important environmental pollutants that enters the body of living organisms in different ways and causes damage to them. So far, many studies have been conducted on the dangers of cadmium on living organisms, but no study has been conducted on the teratogenic effects of cadmium on mice. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to study the teratogenic effects of cadmium on different stages of the embryonic development of Balb/c mice. In this study, 40 Balb/c mice with a weight range of 26±4 g were used. Mice were randomly divided into 4 groups. Each group have 10 mice. Experimental groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively, received doses of 6.25, 12.5, and 25 μg/g of cadmium with a volume of 0.1 ml, and the control group received the same volume of distilled water daily orally. The results of the study analyzed by ANOVA method. The rsults showed: The number of mice embryos, the number of live embryos, the length of the hind limbs, the length of the front limbs, the length of the tail, the length of the cephalo-caudal embryos and the weight of the embryos were reduced in compared to the control group but the number of reabsorbed embryos, the number of abnormal embryos, compared to the control group, it has increased significantly. Therefore, cadmium has a teratogenic effect on the different stages of embryo development of Balb/c mice and causes various morphological abnormalities in them.