Uptake of Tetracycline by Human Bone in vitro

Abstract

SINCE the demonstration by Milch et al.^1–3 that tetracycline is taken up in newly-formed bone after injection into the living organism, the tetracyclines have been used widely in the study of bone formation, especially by the technique of double labelling⁴. It has lately been shown by Harris et al.⁵, comparing the uptake of tetracycline in vivo with the uptake of radioactive calcium, that, besides the distinct uptake in the calcification front, there is also an uptake in other parts of the bone, not related to new bone formation. In a communication to Nature⁶, one of us showed that a diffuse uptake of tetracycline can be demonstrated in bone grafts, with the histological appearance of dead bone. We have, therefore, investigated the uptake of tetracycline in bone devitalized by different methods.