The nickel and vanadium contents of nine institutional diets were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry with background correction. The following values were obtained for nickel: mean concentration, 0.27 +/- 0.02 microgram/g (dry weight); range, 0.19 and 0.41 microgram/g; mean intake, 165 +/- 11 microgram/day or 75 +/- 10 microgram/1000 cal. The respective values for vanadium were: 0.032 +/- 0.004 microgram/g (dry weight); 0.019 to 0.050 microgram/g; 20.4 +/- 2.3 microgram/day or 8.9 +/- 1.0 microgram/1000 cal. Thus, vanadium is present at approximately one order of magnitude less than nickel.

No abstract

Nickel deficiency was produced in rats fed diet (containing 2-15 ng of mickel/g) based on dried skim mile, acid-washed ground corn, EDTA-extracted soy protein, and corn oil. Controls were fed a supplemental 3 mug of nickel/g of diet as NiCl2-6H2O. The rats were raised in plastic cages located inside laminar flow racks. Nickel deprivation resulted in several consistent pathological findings. These included: (1) increased perinatal mortality, (2) unthriftiness in young rats characterized by a rough coat and/or uneven hair development, (3) altered gross appearance (color) of the liver, (4) increased rate of alpha-glycerophosphate oxidation by liver homogenates, (5) decreased liver cholesterol, and (6) ultrastructural changes in the liver with the most obvious difference in the amount and organization of the rough endoplasmic reticulum. Nickel deficiency in rats tended to decrease growth, hematocrits, and liver total lipids and phospholipids.