Effect of mineral content of human bone on in vitro resorption

Osteoclasts, mechanically isolated from chick long bones, were grown in vitro on slices of human rib and femur. Evidence of their activity was assessed by secondary electron and backscattered electron (BSE) imaging in the SEM. BSE imaging was also used to study the relative degree of mineralisation of the bone matrix in which resorption had taken place. All bone phases were resorbed, from osteoid through to densely mineralised interstitial bone and reversal (cement) lines. Resorbing osteoclasts crossed reversal lines between osteons of different mineral density and moved both from higher to lower and lower to higher density phases. Where single loci spanned reversal lines, and thus breached bone of two different mineral densities, depth of demineralisation was inversely related to mineral density. The presence of an annular zone around some resorption loci, which may be caused by demineralisation beneath the osteoclast clear zone, was confirmed. Also, BSE imaging of polished substrata showed that significantly more osteoclastic activity had occurred at their surfaces than was apparent from the amount of cavitation present.