Bone repletion in calcium deficient rats fed a high calcium diet

The changes in the tibial diaphysis as a result of feeding a high calcium diet to rats previously fed a calcium free diet were determined. The calcium free diet resulted in an increase in the medullary area, and the subsequent feeding of a high calcium diet caused a reduction in medullary area. However, the amount of endosteal bone lost during ten days of feeding a calcium free diet was not completely restored after 78 days of feeding a high calcium diet. The decrease in medullary area was brought about by decreased endosteal bone resorption and particularly by increased endosteal bone formation. Bone formation at the periosteum and at the epiphyses were unchanged, indicating that the high calcium diet did not cause a generalized increase in bone formation. The increase in endosteal bone formation was limited to those sites along endosteum where greatest loss of bone had occurred during the calcium depletion period. This indicates that a local factor is at least partially responsible for the stimulation of endosteal bone formation during calcium repletion. Mechanical stress, which stimulates bone formation, was increased in calcium deficient animals and returned to normal during calcium repletion. In addition, mechanical stress was probably greatest in those sites where the greatest amount of bone repletion occurred and may have been the factor which contributed to the increase in endosteal bone formation during calcium repletion.This study was supported in part by a grant from the U.S. Public Health Service (AM09096).