Study of bone microarchitecture abnormalities in mice through microct due to U and Th chemical contamination

The di calcium phosphate, widely used to manufacture fertilizers and animal ration, is extracted from rock minerals. Some of these rocks, as fluoroapatite and collophanite, had together with the calcium phosphate, traces of elements as Fe, F, Mg, Mn, Th and U. Most of these elements are considered to be proper additives for fertilizers and animal ration. In the same time, the presence of U and Th is inappropriate and potentially harmful. The risks posed are more than radioactive exposure, it is rather chemical contamination and its biological effects, since U and Th have strong chemical affinity with many substances present in live organisms, specially phosphorus. The effects of U and Th in bone microarchiteture are still unknown. The aim of this work was to study bone microarchiteture changes in mice fed with animal ration enriched with uranyl phosphate and thorium nitrate, both compounds present in the nuclear fuel cycle. At regular intervals(24, 72, 120 and 168 hours after beginning of the enriched feeding) subjects were sacrificed, blood and bone samples were collected and U and Th levels measured through wavelength dispersive X ray fluorescence (WDXRF). We present the data of U and Th blood level and microarchiteture evaluation through micro computed tomography (microCT) for each mice studied. The results showed that the intake of U and Th does indeed affect bone porosity. (author)