LOS ANGELES, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- U.S. researchers have developed a three-dimensional (3D) model that shows how exposure to cadmium might lead to congenital heart disease, according to a new study published on Wednesday.
Affecting nearly 40,000 newborns a year, congenital heart disease is the most common type of birth defect in the United States, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
Cadmium is a metal that can be released into the environment through mining and various industrial processes, and it has been found in air, soil, water, and tobacco. The metal can enter the food chain when plants absorb it from soil.
Using models derived from human cells and tissues, called in vitro models, researchers at the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) designed a 3D organoid model that mimics how the human heart develops.
The researchers saw how exposure to low levels of cadmium can block usual formation of cardiomyocytes, which are the major type of cells that form the heart.
In doing so, they revealed the biological mechanisms that might explain how cadmium could induce heart abnormalities.
"The models we created are useful for not only studying cadmium, but for studying other chemicals and substances as well," said study lead Erik Tokar from the Mechanistic Toxicology Branch of the NIEHS Division of Translational Toxicology.
The study, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, builds on decades of work by toxicology researchers to advance knowledge about how environmental exposures may contribute to human diseases including cancer, cardiovascular disease, autism, and other conditions. ■
