Summary The interrelated effects of dietary fluorine and feed intake on bone growth, body growth, Ca45 behavior, bone pathology and feed utilization are demonstrated in young pigs. A fluorine level of 1000 ppm in the ration reduced the appetite and caused a decrease in bone growth, body growth, and feed required per unit of skeletal growth. There was an increase in feed required per unit weight gain. When animals were restricted to the same dietary intake, levels of 200 and 1000 ppm flu

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Summary

The interrelated effects of dietary fluorine and feed intake on bone growth, body growth, Ca45 behavior, bone pathology and feed utilization are demonstrated in young pigs.

A fluorine level of 1000 ppm in the ration reduced the appetite and caused a decrease in bone growth, body growth, and feed required per unit of skeletal growth. There was an increase in feed required per unit weight gain.

When animals were restricted to the same dietary intake, levels of 200 and 1000 ppm fluorme caused a reduction in bone growth.

Limiting the dietary intake caused a decrease in bone growth, body growth and feed required per unit of bone growth; however, it caused an increase in feed required per unit of weight gain.

Autoradiograms showed that. in the fluorine treated animals there was a process occurring which tended to remove the Ca45 originally deposited in or directly below the epiphyseal
regions. It is suggested that the fluorine intake caused an increased rate of bone resorption in the primary and secondary spongiosa.

The proportion of the epiphysis occupied by hypertrophied cartilage cells was found to be a reliable measure of the rate of bone growth under the conditions of this experiment.