Changes in amelogenesis in the rat incisor following short-term hypocalcaemia

There is a relationship between hypocalcaemia and the enamel hypoplasia. Earlier studies in rats have reported a severe hypocalcaemia and enamel hypoplasia a month after thyro-parathyroidectomy (TPTX). The aims of this study were to look at earlier stages and to attempt to correlate morphological changes with alterations in the distribution of amelogenin. Twenty-five Wistar rats were, under anaesthesia, thyro-parathyroidectomized. Sham operated rats were included as controls. After 14, 30 or 57 days, the animals were reanesthatized and the tissues fixed by intracardiac perfusion of fixative. The lower incisors were processed for light microscopy and immunogold electron microscopy. After 14 days the thyro-parathyroidectomised rats were severely hypocalcaemic but amelogenesis was morphologically similar to controls. After 30 and 57 days, enamel defects were observed in the late secretory and early maturation stages in the thyro-parathyroidectomised rats. The immunocytochemical study revealed a concentration of stippled material immunolabelled for amelogenin at the secretory pole of the ameloblasts in the hypocalcaemic rats. The absence of enamel defects after 14 days suggests that this was an insufficient hypocalcaemic period to induce morphological alterations. The concentration of stippled material containing amelogenin suggests that alterations in matrix formation may be the basis of the morphological changes.