Cadmium exposure disrupts daily changes in key brain chemical levels in the pituitary gland

Cadmium exposure altered amino acid content patterns in the pituitary of rats.

• Treatment with 25 mg/l of cadmium chloride caused the nocturnal peak of anterior pituitary amino acids to disappear and introduced a peak of glutamine during the resting phase.
• Exposure to 50 mg/l of cadmium chloride led to the disappearance of amino acid peaks at 12:00 and 00:00 h, with new minimal values and a peak at 08:00 h.
• In the posterior pituitary, the lowest dose induced a peak of aspartate and glutamate at 12:00 h while removing the glutamine peak at 16:00 h.
• Higher cadmium exposure resulted in two peaks of aspartate and glutamate between 00:00 and 04:00 h and abolished the daily pattern of glutamine.

Simplified