Effect of pH on bone resorption by rat osteoclasts in vitro

Acidosis has been implicated in the pathogenesis of various metabolic bone diseases. Experimental acid ingestion is known to stimulate the release of bone mineral in humans and increase osteoclastic resorption surfaces in animals, but the mechanism has remained unclear. We have investigated the effect of medium pH on osteoclastic activity in vitro using a new method that allows direct measurement of bone resorption. Osteoclasts were disaggregated from neonatal rat long bones and allowed to settle onto thin slices of bovine cortical bone. After 24-h incubation in medium 199, adjusted to the required pH, bone slices were fixed, and the number and surface area of resorption pits per slice were determined. Reduction in medium pH from 7.4 to 6.8 resulted in a 14-fold increase in the mean area resorbed per bone slice (P less than 0.01). Five- and 9-fold increases were seen at pH 7.2 and 7.0, respectively. Incubation of bone cells with human PTH-(1-34) (100 ng/ml) did not significantly enhance resorption at either pH 7.4 or 6.4, whereas human calcitonin (50 pg/ml) produced near-total inhibition. Mean osteoclast and mononuclear cell numbers were unaltered by all treatments. This is the first direct demonstration that low pH stimulates cell-mediated bone resorption, an observation that may have considerable physiological and pathophysiological significance.