Kinetic measurements of bone mineral metabolism: The use of Na-22 as a tracer for long-term bone mineral turnover studies

Abstract

Sodium-22 was studied as a tracer for bone mineral metabolism in rats and dogs. When incorporated into bone during growth from birth to adulthood, the bone becomes uniformly tagged with (22)Na which is released through the metabolic turnover of the bone. The (22)Na which is not incorporated in the bone matrix is rapidly excreted within a few days when animals are fed high but nontoxic levels of NaCl. The (22)Na tracer can be used to measure bone mineral loss in animals during space flight and in research on bone disease