Effects of acute nickel toxicity upon plasma and liver metal homeostasis as a function of sex

Abstract

The effects of an acute dose of nickel chloride (4 mg Ni/kg body wt) upon liver and plasma essential metal homoeostasis were studied in male and female rats. Total levels of copper and zinc in the tissues and in the fractions of chromatographic profiles (Sephadex G-100 and G-150) were determined. Plasma and liver levels of both metals rose significantly. The higher levels of copper in plasma are associated with increased ceruloplasmin activity and the initial increase of zinc in plasma is due to higher zinc content in the plasma albumin fraction. In the liver, the higher levels of both metals similarly affected all the metal-containing chromatographic fractions, although a significant increase is only observed in metallothionein-containing fractions, which agrees with previous reports on increased levels of metallothionein after nickel treatment. Regarding the sex-dependent changes, both sexes showed the same alterations, yet males recovered faster than females from all the nickel-induced changes in metal homoeostasis.