Cadmium exposure in mice

5–6 weeks old, C57BL/6N mice were exposed to either vehicle or 0.5mM (=56.2ppm Cd, 56.2 mg/L Cd) or 1mM CdCl₂ (112.4ppm Cd, 112.4 mg/L Cd) (Rigaku, Cat #: 1008154) in deionized drinking water (18.2μΩ, Millipore) acidified with HCl (30μM, Fisher Scientific) for varying duration as indicated. During Cd exposure, mice were fed regular chow (Envigo, Cat #: 7912) ad libitum unless otherwise stated. Experiments were carried out in several successive cohorts designed to test the effect of various exposure parameters as detailed in Table 1. In some experiments, mice were transitioned from CdCl₂-containing drinking water to vehicle drinking water during a subsequent washout phase. Mice were fed either regular chow (Envigo, Cat #: 7912) or adjusted calories high fat rodent chow (Envigo, Cat #: TD88137, TD180240, 42% from fat) ad libitum during the exposure and/or washout phase as described. Drinking water was changed once a week to ensure freshness throughout all experimental phases. Metal analysis of regular and high fat chow used are summarized in Suppl. Table 3. At the conclusion of the study, mice were euthanized and tissues were collected for further analysis. All animal experiments were reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Northwestern University.

List of cohorts with their relevant experimental and islet outcome parameters.

Data are expressed as mean ± SEM.

N/A = not applicable, BDL=below detectable limit.