Nickel Deficiency and Nickel-Rhodium Interaction in Chicks

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Abstract
Nickel deficiency was produced in chicks under near optimal growth conditions. This judgment is based on the finding that chicks fed the experimental diet supplemented with nickel had a very satisfactory growth rate, over 600 g in 4 weeks. To induce nickel deficiency, chicks were raised in plastic cages located inside plastic isolators and were fed diets (containing 2–15 ng of nickel/g) based on dried skim milk, acid-washed ground corn, EDTA-extracted soy protein, and corn oil. In 2 experiments, controls were fed 3 µg of nickel/g as NiCl2·6H2O. In experiment 3, instead of 1 control group, 25, 50, 250, and 2,500 ng/g of supplemental dietary nickel as NiCl2·6H2O were each given to separate groups of chicks. deprivation resulted in: ultrastructural changes in the liver with the most obvious abnormality in the organization of the rough endoplasmic reticulum; altered gross appearance, reduced oxidative ability, and decreased lipid phosphorus in the liver; altered shank skin pigmentation that was associated with a decrease in yellow lipochrome pigments; and lower hematocrits. Deficiency also tended to increase the thickness of the legs and size of the hock; decrease the length:width ratios of the tibias and femurs; and decrease the plasma cholesterol. None of the signs of deficiency were seen in chicks fed diets containing at least 52 ng of nickel/g. In one experiment, a group of birds was fed 50 µg of rhodium/g of diet as (ClRh(NH3)a)SO6 to ascertain whether rhodium is a metabolic antagonist of nickel. Supplemental rhodium increased the hematocrits and liver oxidative ability of both nickel-deficient and -supplemented chicks, and increased total liver lipids, liver lipid phosphorus, and liver cholesterol in the nickel-deficient chicks alone. Rhodium did not increase the signs of nickel deficiency.