Evaluation of the cytotoxicity of nickel chloride and nickel nitrate on HEK293T cell line

Nickel and its compounds are widely used in industrial and manufacturing processes. NiCl2 and Ni(NO2)2 are two common soluble salts of nickel, and both are toxic to living organisms. In this study, we examined and compared the cytotoxic effects of NiCl2 and Ni(NO2)2 on the HEK293T cell line by evaluating cell viability and determining the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) for each compound. The results of our study indicate that both NiCl2 and Ni(NO2)2 are cytotoxic to the HEK293T cell line in a dose-dependent manner, and the (IC50 = 60.484 μg/ml) for nickel chloride and (IC50 =55.652 μg/ml) for nickel nitrate. Nickel nitrate was slightly more toxic than nickel chloride. Increased cytotoxicity of Ni(NO2)2 and NiCl2 should be considered in the assessment of the toxicity of nickel compounds on other cell lines in future studies.