Abstract
TETRACYCLINE (I) (ref. 1) and its derivatives oxytetracycline, chlortetracycline and (1-pyrrolidinylmethyl)-tetracycline2 are taken up in newly-formed bone after injection into the living organism, to form a zone that is intensely fluorescent under ultra-violet light. This reaction, which occurs wherever there is active deposition of new bone3, can be used for the detection of calcification. Because mineralized dead bone also takes up tetracycline on every surface (including, although to a lesser extent, the non-growing surfaces)4, the reaction does not depend on the activity of living bone cells or on the integrity of the physical properties of the intercellular components. Instead, there appears to be a direct reaction between tetracycline and one or more inorganic components of the mineralized tissue, the most likely species being hydroxyapatite, Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2, which is the major constituent of all such tissue5. A plausible suggestion as to the nature of the bonding involved is now offered.
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PERRIN, D. Binding of Tetracyclines to Bone. Nature 208, 787–788 (1965). https://doi.org/10.1038/208787a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/208787a0
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