Assessment of an in vivo diffusion chamber method as a quantitative assay for osteogenesis.

The alkaline phosphatase activity and the calcium and phosphorus content of osteogenic tissue formed in vivo following the implantation of diffusion chambers loaded with rabbit bone marrow cells is reported. (In this study the term osteogenic includes osteoblastic and chondroblastic.) Chambers examined 14-70 days after implantation revealed progressive accumulation of mineral. Alkaline phosphatase activity increased until day 30 and declined thereafter. The osteogenic potential of the marrow cells decreased with increasing weight (age) of the cell donor rabbit when measured either as the percentage of chambers containing osteogenic tissue or as the amount of calcium, phosphorus, or alkaline phosphatase activity within the chambers. The results confirm that measurements of these parameters in tissue formed by cells incubated in diffusion chambers in vivo may be used as a method for assay of osteogenesis.