Intestinal strontium absorption: from bioavailability to validation of a simple test representative for intestinal calcium absorption.

Calcium absorption tests have rarely been validated for being representative for absolute bioavailability (true absorption) or for intraindividual variation. Therefore, we investigated the reproducibility of the absolute bioavailability of strontium chloride, a marker for intestinal calcium absorption, in healthy male volunteers (n = 8) by measuring the area under the plasma strontium concentration-time curve after oral and intravenous administration of strontium. Subsequently, we selected a simple test variable as being representative of absolute bioavailability. The mean absolute bioavailability (+/- SD) was 25% +/- 7%. The best test variable appeared to be the fractional absorption at 240 min (Fc240) after oral intake, which demonstrated the highest correlation with absolute bioavailability (r = 0.66). The intraindividual variations of the data for this variable and for the absolute bioavailability are similar to those described for various absorption tests based on the use of calcium isotopes. Thus, the Fc240 of strontium offers the potential of a simple clinical test for use as a measure of intestinal calcium absorption and its modulation.