Bone status and fracture rates were evaluated in two Yugoslav populations with very different dietary habits. In district A (Podravina) the daily calcium intake was about twice that in district B (Istra). There were similar but smaller differences in the intakes of other nutrients. In district B metacarpal cortical width was reduced in all age groups of both sexes but the difference tended to decrease with age. The proximal femur fracture rate was higher in district B than district A but there was no difference between the forearm fracture rates in the two districts. Our results confirm that bone mass at any age is clearly the result of age and sex and most probably other genetically determined factors but also show that this expression is nutrition related. The data suggest that nutrition (in particular the calcium intake) is an important determinant of bone mass in young adults but seems to have little effect on age-related bone loss in either males or females. The main determinant of cortical bone mass in the elderly seems to be the cortical bone mass in middle life. The proximal femur fractures of old people reflect declining cortical bone mass but the distal forearm fractures of middle-aged women are unrelated to cortical bone mass or nutritional status.

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The effect of nine monoalkyl esters of meso-2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) on 203Hg retention after a single i.p. dose was evaluated in 6-7 week-old female albino rats. The monoesters were the monomethyl (MMDMS), monoethyl (MEDMS), mono-n-propyl (Mn-PDMS), monoisopropyl (Mi-PDMS), mono-n-butyl (Mn-BDMS), monoisobutyl (Mi-BDMS), mono-n-amyl (Mn-ADMS), monoisoamyl (Mi-ADMS) and mono-n-hexyl (Mn-HDMS). Dimercaptosuccinic acid or one of the monoesters were administered at a dose of 0.25 mmol kg-1 body wt. twice, i.e. 30 min and 24 h after 203Hg administration. The whole body (WB) radioactivity was determined on the 2nd, 4th and 6th days. The radioactivity in the carcass (C) (whole body without the gastrointestinal tract), liver (L), both kidneys (K) and brain (B) was determined 6 days after 203Hg administration. All treated animals had a significantly lower body burden of mercury than the controls. The reduction of 203Hg retention in WB and other body compartments was higher in animals treated with monoesters than in rats treated with DMSA. The relative effectiveness of the monoesters was dependent on the nature of the alkyl groups, the efficiency being higher in higher analogues. Maximum activity was attained with the C5 (Mn-ADMS, Mi-ADMS) and C6 (Mn-HDMS) esters. These chelators reduced WB, C, L, K and B mercury retention by 90, 89, 76, 93 and 80%, respectively. Iso derivatives were more efficient than the normal isomers (Mi-PDMS > Mn-PDMS; Mi-BDMS > Mn-BDMS; Mi-ADMS > Mn-ADMS).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)