[Action of EDTA on lipids in human compact bone (author's transl)]

Contrary to the opinion generally expressed, decalcification of compact bone by EDTA does not allow a valid extraction of bone lipids due to the fact that they pass partly into the aqueous solution of EDTA, from which they are not entirely recoverable. Moreover, the loss of lipids is much more important when treatment with EDTA is applied directly to the bone powder, that is to say before a preliminary extraction by organic solvents. The percentages of loss in the EDTA solutions change according to the nature of the lipids and also according to the age of subjects. The so-called "liberation " of the bone lipids by EDTA could depend upon a mechanism entirely independent from the calcium chelation, perhaps through simple denaturation of the lipoproteins.