ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Structural Changes in Femoral Bone Tissue
of Rats after Intraperitoneal Administration
of Nickel
Hana Chovancová1, Monika Martiniaková1, Radoslav Omelka2,
Birgit Grosskopf3, Róbert Toman4
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1Department of Zoology and Anthropology, Constantine the Philosopher University, 949 74 Nitra, Slovakia
2Department of Botany and Genetics, Constantine the Philosopher University, 949 74 Nitra, Slovakia
3Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, Georg-August University, 37-073 Göttingen, Germany
4Department of Veterinary Sciences, Slovak University of Agriculture, 949 76 Nitra, Slovakia
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2011;20(5):1147-1152
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
The present study investigated the acute effects of nickel (Ni) on macroscopic and microscopic structure
of femoral bone tissue in rats. For this purpose, ten 5-month-old male Wistar rats were injected intraperitoneally
with a single dose of 15 mg NiCl2 per kg of body weight. Ten 5-month-old males without Ni supplementation
served as a control group. Forty-eight hours after Ni administration, all animals were killed, and
their femora were collected for macroscopic and microscopic evaluation. We found that intraperitoneal application
of Ni had no significant effect on femoral weight and femoral length in rats. On the other hand, cortical
bone thickness was significantly higher in rats administered Ni (P<0.05). Also, a decreased number of primary
and secondary osteons was observed in the microstructure of these rats’ bones. Morphometrical measurements
showed a significant increase in all variables (area, perimeter, maximum, and minimum diameter)
of the primary osteons’ vascular canals, Haversian canals, and secondary osteons (P<0.05) in rats from the
experimental group. Our results suggest that intraperitoneal injection of NiCl2 at the level used in this study
had no impact on the macroscopic structure of femora of adult male rats; however, it significantly influenced
the microscopic structure of their compact bone.