Age-dependent changes in the racemisation ratio of aspartic acid in human alveolar bone

We investigated the racemisation ratio of aspartic acid (Asp) in alveolar bone. In addition, we designed and created a new column to detect Asp in a short period of time, which allowed us to detect d-Asp and l-Asp separately from each other within 5 min. Comparing identical ages, the racemisation ratio of alveolar bone was generally lower than that of other bones reported so far. This result suggests that alveolar bone is metabolically more active than other bones, as expected. The rate constant for the racemisation reaction (k(y)) of alveolar bone was calculated to be 0.000338 in males and 0.000084 in females. The rate constants in males and females were each similar to the respective ratios of the femur. This result suggests that the age-dependent reduction in metabolic turnover in alveolar bone proceeds similarly to that in the femur, although those changes proceed more slowly in females than in males. The correlation coefficient between the racemisation ratio of alveolar bone and chronological age was 0.660. It was high in males (r = 0.912) and low in females (r = 0.527), and this gender difference was statistically significant (P: 0.01–0.001), as in the femur.