Mineral and matrix alterations in the bones of incisors-absent (ia/ia) osteopetrotic rats.

The bones of incisors-absent (ia/ia) osteopetrotic rats differ from those of their normal littermates (ia/+) in histologic and radiographic appearance and in mechanical properties. This study examined how the mineral and matrices of osteopetrotic metaphyses and calvaria differed from normal controls. Bones of 11-day-old and 52-day-old osteopetrotic animals had higher ash (mineral) contents that age-matched controls; osteopetrotic metaphyses had elevated hexosamine contents, indicative of the persistence of cartilage. Calcium acidic phospholipid phosphate complexes, involved in initiation of hydroxyapatite formation in vivo and in vitro, were significantly reduced in content in all osteopetrotic bones. These results suggest that in the osteopetrotic rat, where osteoclast activity is defective, new mineral formation is reduced and replaced by accretion of mineral on existing crystals. Fractionation of osteopetrotic bone particles by density centrifugation demonstrated that the osteopetrotic bone was much more mineralized than that of age-matched controls. X-ray diffraction analysis of the mineralized fractions indicated a lack of growth of mineral crystals during maturation of the osteopetrotic animals. The absence of remodeling was apparent from the elevated Ca:P ratios of the highly mineralized osteopetrotic bone fractions, and from the high hexosamine content of these dense fractions. These observations may explain some of the unusual mechanical properties of osteopetrotic bone.