Nicotine-cadmium interaction alters exploratory motor function and increased anxiety in adult male mice

In this study we evaluated the time dependence in cadmium-nicotine interaction and its effect on motor function, anxiety linked behavioural changes, serum electrolytes, and weight after acute and chronic treatment in adult male mice. Animals were separated randomly into four groups of n = 6 animals each. Treatment was done with nicotine, cadmium, or nicotine-cadmium for 21 days. A fourth group received normal saline for the same duration (control). Average weight was determined at 7-day interval for the acute (D1-D7) and chronic (D7-D21) treatment phases. Similarly, the behavioural tests for exploratory motor function (open field test) and anxiety were evaluated. Serum electrolytes were measured after the chronic phase. Nicotine, cadmium, and nicotine-cadmium treatments caused no significant change in body weight after the acute phase while cadmium-nicotine and cadmium caused a decline in weight after the chronic phase. This suggests the role of cadmium in the weight loss observed in tobacco smoke users. Both nicotine and cadmium raised serum Ca²⁺ concentration and had no significant effect on K⁺ ion when compared with the control. In addition, nicotine-cadmium treatment increased bioaccumulation of Cd²⁺ in the serum which corresponded to a decrease in body weight, motor function, and an increase in anxiety.