Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 28, 2025
Culturing and Measuring Fetal and Newborn Murine Long Bones
Published on: April 26, 2019
Aluminum intake in the neonatal phase disrupts endochondral ossification in rodents
Mara Rubia Marques1, Pedro Henrique Graciano de Assis1, Patrícia Santos Azeredo1
1Laboratório de Microscopia Aplicada à Reprodução - (LaMARe) - Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Avenida Esperança, s/n, Câmpus Samambaia, CEP 74690-900 Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil.
Objective:
This study evaluated the effects of aluminum (Al) intake on endochondral ossification during the neonatal phase.
Method:
Twelve male newborn Gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus) were randomly divided into control (C) and aluminum (Al) groups (n = 6 animals/group). From the 1st to 15th day of life, gerbils received an AlCl3 solution (10 mg/kg/day) via gavage. The control group received only the saline solution. On the 16th day, their tibias were processed for paraffin embedding and were submitted to histomorphometric, histochemical, and immunohistochemical analyses.
Results:
In the epiphyseal cartilage Al did not affect the proteoglycan content or cell proliferation; however, it increased matrix metalloprotease-2 (MMP-2) immunostaining and the hypertrophic layer thickness. In bone, Al decreased trabeculae number, trabecular width, cortical bone width, and proliferation. Furthermore, the relative frequency of bone matrix and fibrillar collagen decreased 3.9% and 16.2%, respectively. The number of osteoclasts and osteocalcin digital optical density (D.O.D) remained the same.
Conclusion:
The results suggest that Al intake during the neonatal period impairs endochondral ossification by affecting epiphyseal cartilage and bone architecture.
