[Relation between local blood flow and bone mineralization indicators in the tibia of female rats]

The results presented contribute to the still unclarified question of the role of bone blood flow in the metabolism and mineralization of the bone tissue. We investigated correlation relationships between 85Sr-microsphere uptake (in % dose per g) or local blood flow (in ml/min per g) and density or ash weight (in g per ml of bone tissue) in the tibia of female rats. In four experiments a total of 16 correlations was computed. The following relationships were found statistically significant (p < 0.05): in exp. A (20 intact females): microsphere uptake--ash weight, blood flow--density, blood flow--ash weight, in exp. B (oophorectomy 4 weeks before the experiment, 28 rats): microsphere uptake--ash weight, blood flow--density, blood flow--ash weight, in exp. C (estradiol benzoate 1 mg s.c. twice a week for 4 weeks, 40 rats): microsphere uptake--density, microsphere uptake--ash weight, blood flow--density, in exp. D (20 oophorectomized females on estradiol): microsphere uptake--ash weight, blood flow--ash weight. The results support the hypothesis of an interconnection between the mineralization of bone tissue and local bone blood flow.