Nickel deprivation

Nickel is considered essential to animals because it is present in the fetus or newborn, is homeostatically regulated, the metabolic pool of nickel is specifically influenced by hormonal substances or pathologic processes, certain metalloproteins contain nickel, and because nickel deficiency has been induced experimentally in certain species of birds and animals (NAS 1975 USPHS 1977 Kirchgessner and Schnegg 1980). In general, the nickel deficiency syndrome can be cured or prevented by trace amounts of nickel (NAS 1975). However, nickel administration may not be successful in reversing all abnormalities produced by nickel deprivation (USPHS 1977). 

Essentiality. Nickel is an essential nutrient for animals and probably for hmnans. Signs of nickel deprivation have been described for five animal species - chick, rat, mlnlplg, goat and sheep. Briefly, the signs of deficiency include the following ... 

I ( ) reported that the signs of nickel deprivation in chicks included depressed levels of liver phospholipids, oxidative ability of the liver in the presence of a-glycerophosphate, yellow lipochrome pigments in the shank skin, hematocrits and ultrastructural abnormalities in the liver. 

Anke et al. found that nickel-deprived minlpigs and... 

The form of dietary iron also influenced the effect of nickel on hematocrit and hemoglobin. When ferric sulfate was fed (Experiments 1 and 3), both parameters were significantly lower in nickel-deprived than -supplemented rats. In Experiment 2 the effect of nickel was much less marked than in Experiments 1 and 3. In Experiment 2, the greatest difference was in rats fed no supplemental iron. 

The hypothesis that nickel has a role In the passive diffusion of Fe(III) Is supported by my data for hematocrit and hemoglobin discussed previously. Dowdle al. (31) suggested that the active transport mechanism for Iron would become Important If passive diffusion were restricted. Thus, at the lower levels of iron supplementation as a ferric-ferrous mixture, there was some ferrous ions available for active transport, and nickel deprivation did not significantly affect levels of hematocrit or hemoglobin. On the other hand, when only ferric Iron was fed, the active transport mechanism could not operate, and In nickel deprivation, the passive diffusion of lipophilic Fe(III) complexes apparently was inhibited. As a result, levels of hematocrit and hemoglobin differed between nickel-deprived and -supplemented rats at low levels of Iron supplementation. At high levels of supplementation, perhaps there was enough Fe(II) present in the diet to prevent any differences as the iron supplement was approximately 92% Fe(III). 

D.R. Nickel deprivation in rats Nickel-iron interactions. J. Nutr.. 1979, 109, 1623-1632. 

Nickel is an essential micronutrient for maintaining health in certain species of plants and animals. Its deficiency effects from dietary deprivation have been induced experimentally in many species of birds and mammals. To prevent nickel deficiency in rats and chickens, diets should contain at least 50 pg Ni/kg ration, while cows and goats require more than 100 pg Ni/kg rations, perhaps reflecting the increased use by rumen bacteria. Nickel deficiency is not a public health concern for humans because daily oral intake is sufficient to prevent deficiency effects. 

That the desulfurizing action of Raney nickel is retained even in the absence of hydrogen has been demonstrated by Hauptmann, Wladislaw and Camargo16 who found that Raney nickel which had been deprived of its hydrogen through heating in vacuum at 200° converted, for example, benzaldehyde dibenzyl thioacetal into a mixture of stilbene and bibenzyl. That this type of reaction proceeds by a free-radical mechanism appears... 

Syrett, P. J., and PepHnska, A. (1988). The effect of nickel and nitrogen deprivation on the metabolism of urea by the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum. Brit.J. Phycol. 23, 387—390. 

Nickel is an essential micronutrient for maintaining health in certain species of plants and animals. Nickel deficiency effects from dietary deprivation of nickel has been induced experimentally in many species of birds... 

Neither copper nor nickel powder electrodes are sensitive to the presence of oxygen in the system. In a similar way as for the nickel electrode, we determined the normal potential of a copper powder electrode using deactivated copper powder, that is to say, a powder deprived of places of higher state of energy on its surface. Such a powder is, for example, the one obtained by means of electrolysis. 

To close this section on potentiometric investigations of catalysts, we recall the work (mentioned in Section 2) on Raney nickel containing hydrogen and artificaJly deprived of it. The cycle of dehydrogenation and then of hydrogenation was successfully... 

The quality of the experimental evidence for nutritional essentiality varies widely for the ultratrace elements. The evidence for the essentiality of three elements, iodine, molybdenum and selenium, is substantial and noncontroversial specific biochemical functions have been defined for these elements. The nutritional importance of iodine and selenium are such that they have separate entries in this encyclopedia. Molybdenum, however, is given very little nutritional attention, apparently because a deficiency of this element has not been unequivocally identified in humans other than individuals nourished by total parenteral nutrition or with genetic defects causing disturbances in metabolic pathways involving this element. Specific biochemical functions have not been defined for the other 15 ultratrace elements listed above. Thus, their essentiality is based on circumstantial evidence, which most often is that a dietary deprivation in an animal model results in a suboptimal biological function that is preventable or reversible by an intake of physiological amounts of the element in question. Often the circumstantial evidence includes an identified essential function in a lower form of life, and biochemical actions consistent with a biological role or beneficial action in humans. The circumstantial evidence for essentiality is substantial for arsenic, boron, chromium, nickel, silicon, and vanadium. The evidence for essentiality for the... 

---