Erythrocytosis, glomerulomegaly, mesangial hyperplasia, sialyl hyperplasia, and arteriosclerosis induced in rats by nickel subsulfide.

Histopathological examinations were performed upon groups of male Fischer rats killed at intervals from 1 h to 18 weeks after unilateral intrarenal (ir) injection of nickel subsulfide (2.5 or 5 mg of Ni3S2/rat). Consistent with previous findings, erythroid hyperplasia of bone marrow and spleen occurred from 2 to 18 weeks after Ni3S2-treatment, resulting in pronounced erythrocytosis. Hitherto unreported effects of Ni3S2-treatment include: (a) marked glomerulomegaly and hyperplasia of mesangial cells in both kidneys; (b) hyperplasia of submandibular salivary glands, and (c) widespread arteriosclerotic lesions. The present study suggests that mesangial cells of renal glomeruli produce erythropoietin. Discovery that ir injection of Ni3S2 induces arteriosclerotic lesions in rats furnishes a new experimental model to investigate the pathogenesis of arteriosclerosis.