[New views on morphology and function of osteoclasts].

Electron-microscopic investigation of a mature bone of a rat, devoted exclusively to bone absorption and the cells involved. The authors that bone absorption varies. Normally it is caused by uninuclear metabolically very active cells of bone. The cell conglomerates, mistaken for multinuclear cells under the light microscope, hardly ever lay immediately adjoining the absorbing bony surface but formed a second line. They always are linked with rising bone absorption. Their structure proves their syncytial origin and phagocytic characteristics. Mainly with regard to practival considerations the authors emphasize the need for revision of today's views on bone-absorption.