Do thyroid hormones determine the neurotoxicity of cadmium?

Α recent experimental study on rats has shown that the neurotoxicity of cadmium (Cd) could be associated with the levels of thyroid hormones. We, herein, discuss these findings and focus on the effects of the exposure to Cd on a widely-employed neurotoxicity marker: the activity of brain acetylcholinesterase (AChE). Moreover, we assess the novelty of the association between Cd-induced neurotoxicity and the levels of thyroid hormones, reflect on the poor understanding of the nature and the mechanisms defining the interplay between Cd and thyroid function, and highlight the complexity of achieving reliable and comparable experimental assessments of Cd-induced neurotoxicity through the employment of AChE activity as a marker. Finally, we express the opinion that the systematic co-assessment of the levels of thyroid hormones as well as their pharmacological manipulation could prove to be very useful in the elucidation of the mechanisms underlying Cd-induced neurotoxicity.