Itai-Itai Disease

Itai-itai disease is an example of the impact through environmental exposure. “Itai-itai” in Japanese means ‘ouch-ouch’, indicating painful osteoporosis resulting from chronic cadmium exposure. Cadmium toxicity can lead to severe osteoporosis, where bones become brittle and fragile from loss of bone density. Osteoporosis is closely related to skeletal demineralization, and even a minimal environmental exposure to cadmium may cause demineralization. Bone demineralization in cadmium toxicity may be due to the impairment of osteoblast and osteoclast function as a result of renal dysfunction. Cadmium interacts with renal mitochondrial hydroxylases of the vitamin D3 endocrine complex, thereby contributing to skeletal injury. A progressive decline
in glomerular filtration rate and tubular proteinuria are also hallmarks of cadmium nephrotoxicity. Due to the relationship between cadmium toxicity and bone disorders, there is likely to be a relationship between the degree of cadmium exposure and bone mineral content. This can be studied by measuring the concentrations of different elements in bones after different degrees of cadmium exposure.