Review of Antioxidant-rich Natural Dietary Products as Protective and Therapeutic Factors against Cadmium Toxicity in Living Organisms

Abstract

Advances in civilization processes and industrialization have doubled the release of toxic heavy metals into the environment, consequently elevating their presence in the food chains. Cadmium (Cd) is one of the severe toxic metals widely present in the atmosphere. The major route of animal or human exposure to Cd is through water or food ingestion and inhalation of particles or inhalation of fumes during various industrial processes. Continuous exposure to low levels of Cd results in a gradual deposition in different tissues of the body, causing toxic effects on the liver, kidneys, testes, and other vital organs. The beneficial effect of natural antioxidants against chemical induced toxicity is receiving more attention. Antioxidant-rich dietary products and their function in tempering free radicals produced in the body under different pathological conditions is an active research field. In the current review, we attempted to highlight the current research progress in the field of using antioxidant-rich natural dietary products and their function in mitigating or preventing health issues and tissue damage associated with Cd induced toxicity along with its mechanism.

Zinc Chloride Can Mitigate the Alterations in Metallothionein and Some Apoptotic Proteins Induced by Cadmium Chloride in Mice Hepatocytes: A Histological and Immunohistochemical Study

“…The amount of cadmium in the air and in food chains has doubled in urban and industrial regions, posing a great risk to human and animal health. In addition, environmental and occupational exposure to cadmium has become a serious health problem in both developing and industrialized countries [ 2 , 3 ]. Food and smoking are among the most significant causes of cadmium exposure to humans [ 4 ].…”

Exogenous Methyl Jasmonate Application Improved Physio-Biochemical Attributes, Yield, Quality, and Cadmium Tolerance in Fragrant Rice

“…Increasing the soil deposition of heavy metals and its associated toxic effects on crop plants has attracted global attention among researchers and farmers ( Zaid et al, 2019 ; Huang J. et al, 2020 ). Cadmium (Cd) is among the most toxic heavy metals posing threats to crop production, grain quality, and human and animal health ( Kanu et al, 2017a ; Quddus et al, 2021 ). Cd is being deposited in arable lands through various sources, such as emission of pollutants from industries, discharge waste from anthropogenic sources, metal smelting, ore mining, and use of synthetic agrochemicals by farmers ( Ashraf et al, 2015 ; Huang and Hartemink, 2020 ; Huang S. et al, 2020 ).…”