Abstract

Rabbits of similar age and body weight received sodium fluoride (NaF) (50 mg/kg body weight/day) intragastrically for up to 136 days. The acid-soluble collagen of bone, tendon, trachea and skin was extracted and purified. Aldehyde associated with the collagen was determined spectrophotometrically. Bone collagen, which had maximum aldehyde content in normal conditions, showed maximum reduction after sodium fluoride ingestion, as compared to other tissues. The mode of action of fluoride appears variable from tissue to tissue. The collagen fibres produced during fluoride toxicity would be defective due to inadequate cross-links. Thus sodium fluoride interferes with the maturation and normal metabolism of tissue collagen.

Excerpt:

NaF [sodium fluoride] produces abnormal collagen fibres which provide an abnormal environment for calcification. The formation of defective collagen fibres during fluoride poisoning may explain the development of neobone in fluorosis. NaF is suggested to interfere with maturation of collegen fibres by exerting an adverse effect on cross-link precursors.

Print PDF

• Related Studies :

  • Bilateral fractures of femoral neck in patients with moderate renal failure receiving fluoride for spinal osteoporosis

    Two patients with moderate renal failure sustained spontaneous bilateral hip fractures during treatment with fluoride, calcium, and vitamin D for osteoporosis. They had been taking sodium fluoride (40-60 mg/day) for 11 and 21 months, respectively. Histological examination of a specimen of the bone showed severe fluorosis in the first case,

  • Bone and joint pathology in fluoride-exposed workers

    Clinical and radiological investigations were performed for 2,258 aluminum workers exposed to fluoride for an average of 17.6 yr (standard deviation = 7.6). Changes in bone and joints were presented in detail in three groups: (1) exposed up to 5 yr (135 cases), (2) exposed from 6-32 yr (1,463 cases),

  • Radiculomyopathy in a southwestern Indian due to skeletal fluorosis

    The findings of a Papago Indian with the second reported case of fluorotic radiculomyopathy in the United States are presented. Neurological deficits occurring in this entity as a manifestation of spinal cord and nerve root bony compression are described. This radiculomyopathy is rare but it is of regional importance since

  • Ossification of the transverse atlantal ligament associated with fluorosis: a report of two cases and review of the literature

    STUDY DESIGN: Two cases of ossification of the transverse atlantal ligament (OTAL) are reported, and the literature is reviewed. OBJECTIVE: To report two cases of OTAL, which share fluorosis as a possible etiologic link. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: OTAL, a rare phenomenon, may cause upper cervical canal stenosis and spastic quadriparesis. However,

  • Effect of combined therapy with sodium fluoride, vitamin D and calcium in osteoporosis

    Fluoride administration in both man and animals has been shown to stimulate new bone formation. However, the bone is poorly mineralized, and osteomalacia and secondary hyperparathyroidism frequently occur. In this study we investigated the effect of variable levels of fluoride and calcium intake, accompanied by vitamin D, on osteoporosis in

• Related FAN Content :

  • Fluoride & Osteoarthritis

    While the osteoarthritic effects that occurred from fluoride exposure were once considered to be limited to those with skeletal fluorosis, recent research shows that fluoride can cause osteoarthritis in the absence of traditionally defined fluorosis. Conventional methods used for detecting skeletal fluorosis, therefore, will fail to detect the full range of people suffering from fluoride-induced osteoarthritis.

  • "Pre-Skeletal" Fluorosis

    As demonstrated by the studies below, skeletal fluorosis may produce adverse symptoms, including arthritic pains, clinical osteoarthritis, gastrointestinal disturbances, and bone fragility, before the classic bone change of fluorosis (i.e., osteosclerosis in the spine and pelvis) is detectable by x-ray. Relying on x-rays, therefore, to diagnosis skeletal fluorosis will invariably fail to protect those individuals who are suffering from the pre-skeletal phase of the disease. Moreover, some individuals with clinical skeletal fluorosis will not develop an increase in bone density, let alone osteosclerosis, of the spine. Thus, relying on unusual increases in spinal bone density will under-detect the rate of skeletal fluoride poisoning in a population.

  • Skeletal Fluorosis: The Misdiagnosis Problem

    It is a virtual certainty that there are individuals in the general population unknowingly suffering from some form of skeletal fluorosis as a result of a doctor's failure to consider fluoride as a cause of their symptoms. Proof that this is the case can be found in the following case reports of skeletal fluorosis written by doctors in the U.S. and other western countries. As can be seen, a consistent feature of these reports is that fluorosis patients--even those with crippling skeletal fluorosis--are misdiagnosed for years by multiple teams of doctors who routinely fail to consider fluoride as a possible cause of their disease.

  • Fluoride & Rheumatoid Arthritis

    The symptoms of skeletal fluorosis can closely resemble rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and thus individuals with fluorosis can "easily be mistaken" as having RA. In addition, clinical research on fluoride-treated osteoporosis patients has found that fluoride exposure can exacerbate pre-existing RA, and recent research shows that the levels of fluoride found in the blood of the general population (19-57 ppb) are sufficient to effect an enzyme (15-lipoxygenase) implicated in the inflammatory process of RA.

  • Fluoride Magnifies Impact of Repetitive Stress on Joints

    Research has repeatedly found that fluoride's effect on the skeleton is most pronounced in the bones and joints that undergo the greatest strain. Indeed, both the symptoms of fluorosis (i.e., joint pain and stiffness) as well as the radiological findings (e.g., exostoses, interosseuous membrane calcification) have been found to occur earliest, and most severely, in the joints