Effects of Gamdutang on Protection Against Accumulation of Cadmium in Rats

These experiments were conducted to determine the effects of Gamdutang on the accumulation of cadmium in the body of groups of rats that received an 8-week administration of 1.7, 3.4 and $6.8{\mu}g$/g/day of cadmium, respectively, while the other groups of rats received an 8-week administration of a mixture of cadmium by concentration and Gamdutang. A comparative analysis of these groups was conducted in respect of weight, accumulated cadmium in blood and diverse organs and pathological findings from the kidneys. As for the cadmium accumulation in blood, livers, kidneys, and testis, with the lengthening of the experiment period, the cadmium and Gamdutang mixture-administered groups tended to have reduced accumulation levels compared with the groups exclusively administered cadmium. Histopathological observation of the kidneys, observed in the cadmium exclusively administered groups showed hemorrhagic necrosis in glomeruli, swelling of tubules, epithelial shedding and necrosis of tubules; however, only mild tissue lesions were observed in the cadmium and Gamdutang mixture-administered groups. Given the above results, Gamdutang is deemed to have the effects of reducing the accumulation of cadmium in blood, liver, and testis when low-concentration cadmium is administered to rats.