Effects of strontium ions on growth and dissolution of hydroxyapatite and on bone mineral detection

Preparation and analyses of a series of hydroxyapatites (HA) containing 1–10 mol % of Ca2+ replaced by Sr2+ is reported. The solubility of these apatites is found to increase with increasing content of Sr2+. 10% SrHA dissolves faster than CaHA at given values of Ca2+ and phosphate concentrations, but with a similar rate at the same degree of saturation. Sr2+ is found to inhibit the rates of both dissolution and growth of CaHA and 10% SrHA at pH 7.2, CaHA being more strongly inhibited by Sr2+ than 10% SrHA. The effect of partial substitution of Ca2+ in hydroxyapatite by Sr2+ on bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral density (BMD) measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry has been studied using three commercial densitometers. Extrapolating the absorption data for up to 10% replacement of Ca2+ by Sr2+ to 100% substitution of Ca2+ by Sr2+ in HA leads to an apparent increase in BMC or BMD of about a factor of 10. This factor is in agreement with theoretical calculations using attenuation coefficients of the atoms concerned. It is concluded that existing BMC scanners register artificially high values of BMC if the bone contains significant amounts of Sr2+ or other metal ions with atomic number larger than calcium.