ABSTRACT
Many studies in the 1970s gave inconsistent signs of nickel deprivation. Some of the inconsistencies can be linked to improper environmental conditions, others, to suboptimal diets. Beginning in the mid- to late 1970s, nutritionally-adequate diets have been used to study the consequences of nickel deprivation. The main component of the diet used in nickel deprivation studies is acid-washed ground corn. Acid washing significantly reduces metal contamination in the corn. The basal diet is prepared in a plastic tub. Usually 8 kg of each diet are prepared at a time. In studying trace element deficiency, some researchers feed all the animals in a study the basal (deficient) diet but add the trace element under study to the drinking water of the control animals. Values taken from numerous published and unpublished experiments. All values are from male rats about 80 days old; the rats were on respective nickel-deficient or nickel-supplemented diets for about 60 days.
