Staining intensity of individual osteons correlated with elastic properties and degrees of mineralization

Surface staining is widely used for histological studies involving undecalcified thick bone sections. Individual osteons, particularly newly formed ones stained with toluidine blue (TB), show various color intensities. We studied the correlations between TB color intensity and the differences in sti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of bone and mineral metabolism 2001-01, Vol.19 (6), p.359-364
Main Authors: LING QIN, LEUNGKIM HUNG, KWOKSUI LEUNG, XIA GUO, BUMRERRAJ, Sauwanan, KATZ, Lawrence
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
Diaphyses - metabolism
Elasticity
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Goats
Haversian System - chemistry
Haversian System - metabolism
Haversian System - ultrastructure
Male
Minerals - analysis
Skeleton and joints
Staining and Labeling
Tibia - metabolism
Tibia - ultrastructure
Vertebrates: osteoarticular system, musculoskeletal system
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Summary:Surface staining is widely used for histological studies involving undecalcified thick bone sections. Individual osteons, particularly newly formed ones stained with toluidine blue (TB), show various color intensities. We studied the correlations between TB color intensity and the differences in stiffness and degree of mineralization of individual osteons in undecalcified histological sections of goat tibial diaphysis, measured by scanning acoustic microscopy (SAM) and contact microradiography (CMR), respectively. Results showed that all three measurements correlated significantly with each other (r = 0.567 - 0.786; all P < or = 0.01). The TB surface staining intensity of individual osteons correlated better with the reflection coefficient (stiffness index) measured by SAM (r = 0.713) than with the aluminum step-wedge equivalent thickness measured on CMR micrographs (r = 0.567). The aluminum step-wedge equivalent thickness of individual osteons on CMR correlated slightly better with the SAM reflection coefficient (r = 0.786) than with the TB surface staining intensity (r = 0.713). The results of this study suggest that TB surface staining may be used as a simple method for indicating differences in stiffness and degree of mineralization in individual osteons in comparative histological studies.
ISSN:0914-8779
1435-5604
DOI:10.1007/s007740170005