Induction of an Autoimmune Thyroid Disease with Nickel Chloride in Brown Norway Rats - Original Article

Abstract
Objective: Hazards caused by nickel exposure, due to its direct and autoimmune reaction, are a growing problem.  The aim of this study is to explore whether nickel will induce autoimmune thyroid disease in immunosensitive rats.
Materials and Methods: In this study, twelve Brown Norway rats were selected from our previous study (Almogairen et al, Lupus 2009 April). The rats were sacrificed after the exposure to nickel and then thyroidectomized.  Histological studies of the thyroid were performed in the group of six rats positively responding to nickel  and were compared with the equal number of rats in the autoantibody-negative control group.
Results: Histologically, epithelial follicular proliferation in the thyroid gland was significant in the subcutaneous nickel group (p=0.05).
Conclusions: When correlating the above results with serum ANA response of the same rats, it might be concluded that nickel chloride might induce autoimmune thyroid disease in immnosensitive rats.