Protective effect of maternal N-acetyl-cysteine supplementation during pregnancy against cadmium-induced renal damage in male mouse offspring

[Background] Previous studies have found that maternal N-acetyl-cysteine（NAC） supplementation during pregnancy can alleviate cadmium-induced fetal growth restriction in mice. However, the effect on cadmium-induced renal development impairment in offspring is unclear.[Objective] The present study is to explore the effect of maternal NAC supplementation during pregnancy on Cd-impaired renal development in male mouse offspring and its mechanisms.[Methods] A total of 65 CD-1 pregnant mice were raised to gestational day7（GD7） and randomly divided into control group（n=12）, NAC group（n=13）, low-concentration cadmium（LCd） group（n=12）, high-concentration cadmium（HCd） group（n=13）, and NAC plus highconcentration cadmium（NCd） group（n=15）. In the LCd group, HCd group, and NCd group, pregnant mice were exposed to different concentrations of cadmium(50, 150, and 150 mg·L-1) by drinking water from GD8 to GD17. In the NAC group and NCd group, pregnant mice were treated with NAC（500 mg·kg-1） daily by intragastrical administrat