Cadmium (Cd) is an environmental pollutant that is toxic to almost every human organ. Oral supplementation with lactic acid bacteria (LAB) has been reported to alleviate cadmium toxicity. However, research on the mitigation of cadmium toxicity by LAB is still limited to inorganic cadmium, which is not representative of the varied forms of cadmium ingested daily. In this study, different foodborne forms of cadmium were adopted to establish an in vivo toxicity model, including cadmium-glutathione, cadmium-citrate, and cadmium-metallothionein. The ability of Lactobacillus plantarum CCFM8610 to reduce the toxic effects of these forms of cadmium was further investigated. The 16S rRNA gene sequencing and metabolomics technologies based on liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) were adopted for the exploration of relevant protective mechanisms. The results demonstrated that the consumption of CCFM8610 can reduce the content of cadmium in mice and relieve the oxidative stress caused by different food-derived forms of cadmium, indicating that CCFM8610 has a promising effect on the remediation of the toxic effects of cadmium food poisoning. Meanwhile, protective effects on gut microflora and serum metabolites might be an important mechanism for probiotics to alleviate cadmium toxicity. This study provides a theoretical basis for the application of L. plantarum CCFM8610 to alleviate human cadmium poisoning.
Keywords: acute toxicity; food–derived cadmium; gut microbiota; probiotics; serum metabolomics.