Trace elements in ribs of elderly people and elemental variation in the presence of chronic diseases

Element concentrations in ribs obtained from elderly Japanese people (17 males and 28 females; mean age, 81.5 years) were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS), inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES), and ICP mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Nine elements — Na, Mg, P, K, Ca, Fe, Zn, Sr, and Pb — were determinable in most of the subjects by a combination of AAS and ICP-AES. The levels of these elements were generally comparable with those obtained in our previous study on ribs from younger Japanese. By the use of ICP-MS, Sn (median, 0.79 μg/g dry bone) and Ba (1.3 μg/g) were determinable in all of the subjects analysed (n = 35) and 18 other elements at lower concentration levels were also detected in some of the subjects. An exploratory statistical analysis was carried out to find element(s) of which level(s) in rib vary in the presence of degenerative chronic diseases, using information obtained from pathological autopsy reports and medical histories of the present subjects. It indicated that (i) Pb and Zn, (ii) Ba, and (iii) Sr levels in the ribs varied in the presence of cancer, cerebrovascular damage, and bone problems, respectively. The present results were discussed in relation to the results of the previous epidemiologic and experimental studies.