Laboratory Animals > Laboratory Animals Online First > 10.1258/la.2007.06037e

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Paper

Assessment of markers of bone formation under controlled environmental factors and their correlation with serum minerals in adult sheep as a model for orthopaedic research

I R Dias ^* , C A Viegas ^*, J T de Azevedo , E M Costa , P Lourenço  , A Rodrigues  and A S Cabrita ^**

^* Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal; CECAV - Department of Animal Sciences, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal; Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine and Bone Metabolism Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal; Hospital of the University of Coimbra, Service of Orthopaedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal; ^** Institute of Experimental Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

Correspondence: I R Dias, Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, PO Box 1013, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal. Email: idias{at}utad.pt

Eighteen healthy skeletally mature (3 years old) ewes, with an average weight of 45 kg, of the Portuguese Churra da Terra Quente breed were used to evaluate the normal values of total and bone-specific isoform of alkaline phosphatase serum activities (ALP and BALP, respectively) and serum osteocalcin (OC) and their correlation with the serum minerals – calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), magnesium (Mg) and ionized calcium (Ca²⁺). The sheep were maintained under controlled environmental conditions (constant diurnal photoperiod cycle and identical husbandry and feeding) for six weeks before the collection of the blood samples. The measurement of the total ALP and serum minerals was performed with automated biochemistry analysers using the BioMérieux^® kits, the serum electrolyte Ca²⁺ Diametrics Medical, Inc^® specific cassettes and the BALP and OC METRATM kits from QUIDEL^® Corporation. The mean ± standard deviation values obtained were: total ALP 90.17 ± 85.72 U/L, BALP 15.0 ± 5.44 U/L, ratio BALP/ total ALP 29.28 ± 24.22, OC 13.02 ± 1.87 ng/mL, Ca 2.57 ± 0.37 mmol/L, P 2.13 ± 0.42 mmol/L, Mg 1.04 ± 0.13 mmol/L, Ca²⁺ 1.29 ± 0.04 mmol/L. Significant correlations were observed between the total ALP and Ca (r = 0.5939; P = 0.05) and OC and Ca (r = 0.5706; P = 0.05). Reference to the serum values of bone turnover parameters in sheep could be of great value in research and could provide complementary non-invasive information on the bone healing process, particularly with regard to obtaining an early prognosis of fracture healing.

Key Words: Total and bone-specific alkaline phosphatase • osteocalcin • minerals • serum • sheep

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