Chronic metabolic acidosis increases urine calcium excretion without altering intestinal calcium absorption, suggesting that bone mineral is the source of the additional urinary calcium. During metabolic acidosis there appears to be an influx of protons into bone mineral, lessening the magnitude of the decrement in pH. Although in vitro studies strongly support a marked effect of metabolic acidosis on the ion composition of bone, there are few in vivo observations. We utilized a high-resolution scanning ion microprobe with secondary ion mass spectroscopy to determine whether in vivo metabolic acidosis would alter bone mineral in a manner consistent with its purported role in buffering the increased proton concentration. Postweanling mice were provided distilled drinking water with or without 1.5% NH(4)Cl for 7 days; arterial blood gas was then determined. The addition of NH(4)Cl led to a fall in blood pH and HCO(-)(3) concentration. The animals were killed on day 7, and the femurs were dissected and split longitudinally. The bulk cortical ratios Na/Ca, K/Ca, total phosphate/carbon-nitrogen bonds [(PO(2) + PO(3))/CN], and HCO(-)(3)/CN each fell after 1 wk of metabolic acidosis. Because metabolic acidosis induces bone Ca loss, the fall in Na/Ca and K/Ca indicates a greater efflux of bone Na and K than Ca, suggesting H substitution for Na and K on the mineral. The fall in (PO(2) + PO(3))/CN indicates release of mineral phosphates, and the fall in HCO(-)(3)/CN indicates release of mineral HCO(-)(3). Each of these mechanisms would result in buffering of the excess protons and returning the systemic pH toward normal.
Acidosis produced by a fall in [HCO3-] (metabolic acidosis, Met) produces greater Ca efflux from cultured bone than that produced by a rise in PCO2 (respiratory acidosis, Resp). To compare the effects of Met and Resp on bone surface ion composition we measured the surface abundance of 40Ca, 23Na, and 39K in cultured bone with a scanning ion microprobe utilizing secondary-ion mass spectrometry. Neonatal mouse calvariae were incubated for 24 h in medium simulating either Met (pH = 7.193 +/- 0.034, [HCO3-] = 15.1 +/- 1.4 meq/l), Resp (pH = 7.153 +/- 0.014, PCO2 = 85.4 +/- 1.2 mmHg) or normal physiological (Ctl; pH = 7.484 +/- 0.009, [HCO3-] = 29.7 +/- 0.7, PCO2 = 39.6 +/- 0.3) conditions. The surface of Ctl at 2-nm depth is rich in Na and K relative to Ca (Na/Ca = 25.6, K/Ca = 12.0, ratios of counts/s of secondary ions). Compared with Ctl, Met produced a sharp fall in both Na/Ca (6.5, P less than 0.01) and K/Ca (4.6, P less than 0.01), whereas Resp did not alter Na/Ca (23.8) or K/Ca (15.0). Ca efflux was greater in Met (873 +/- 54 nmol.bone-1.24 h-1) than in Resp (546 +/- 71 nmol.bone-1.24 h-1, P less than 0.01), which was greater than that in Ctl (315 +/- 49 nmol.bone-1.24 h-1, P less than 0.01 vs. Met and vs. Resp).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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