Search

The object of our experiments was to determine the effect of imidazole on the growth cartilage of rats with HEBP induced rickets. When HEBP (1-hydroxyethylidene-1, 1-bisphophonic acid) was given to young rats in large doses over a short period, rickets was consistently produced. We found that imidazole had a calcification promoting action in the growth plate cartilage where there had been an increase in thickness due to the inhibition of calcification. In an attempt to clarify the mechanism of accelerated calcification due to imidazole, the effects of diltiazem, a calcium antagonist, were observed; it was found to suppress the accelerated calcification. If diltiazem inhibits the entry of calcium ions into the cells of the growth cartilage, as it does in smooth muscle and myocardial cells, then our results indicate that intracellular concentrations of calcium may play an important role in the accelerated calcification due to imidazole.

When HEBP (1-hydroxyethylidene-1, 1-biphosphonic acid) was administered to young rats in large doses over a short period rickets was consistently produced. When HEBP was administered concomitantly with 1,25 (OH)2D3 or calcitonin (CT), calcification appeared in the growth-plate cartilage where there had been an increase in thickness due to the inhibition of calcification. This experiment was done in an attempt to clarify differences in the calcification-promoting mechanisms of 1,25 (OH)2D3 and CT. The serum alkaline phosphatase level was reduced in rats with an accelerated calcification following the administration of 1,25 (OH)2D3, but there was no reduction in the serum alkaline phosphatase level in rats in which the calcification was accelerated by the administration of CT. The mode of appearance of calcification in the growth-plate cartilage by 1,25 (OH)2D3 or CT differed, depending on the time of administration. These results suggest that mechanisms involved in the enhancement of calcification by 1,25 (OH)2D3 and CT differ in cases where rickets are induced by HEBP.

In an animal model of human rickets developed by giving a short-term administration of large doses of EHDP to young rats, concomitant administration of [Asu1,7]eel calcitonin (CT) with EHDP resulted in the promotion of calcification in growth cartilage. In an attempt to clarify the mechanisms related to the accelerated calcification due to CT, the effects of diltiazem, a calcium antagonist, were studied. Diltiazem suppressed, in a dose-dependent manner, the accelerated calcification due to CT in the growth cartilage, as determined by findings on the soft X-ray photos, contact microradiograph and light microscopic histology of the proximal region of the tibia. This suppression was only evident when diltiazem and CT were given concomitantly. If it is assumed that diltiazem inhibits the entry of calcium ion into the cells of growth cartilage, in the same manner as seen in case of smooth muscle and myocardial cells, then our results indicate that intracellular concentrations of calcium might play an important role in the occurrence of accelerated calcification due to CT.