Nickel: a new essential trace element
1974
Much indirect evidence exists which indicates that nickel has an essential physiological function. The data have been obtained from pharmacologic, toxicologic, and in vitro biochemical studies. Other evidence has been obtained from chemical analysis of biosubstances which indicates that nickel is consistently present and that nickel concentrations in tissue change in some pathological conditions. Recently, nickel deficiency was produced in chicks and rats. Chicks raised in a controlled environment free of trace metal contamination and fed a dried skim milk ground corn diet containing 3 to 14 ppb nickel exhibited impaired liver metabolism and morphology. This included a reduced ability to oxidize α glycerophosphate, an increase in the lipid fraction, a decrease in the phospholipid fraction, and an ultrastructural degeneration characterized by dilation of the cisternae of the rough endoplasmic reticulum and by the swelling of the mitochondria. The swelling was in the compartment of the matrix and was associated with fragmentation of the cristae. Dilation of the perinuclear space, condensation of peripheral nuclear chromatin and pyknotic nuclei were also observed. Rats raised under similar conditions also showed abnormalities when deprived of nickel. These included a reduced oxidation of α glycerophosphate by liver homogenates and abnormalities in the sucrose density gradient polysome profile.
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