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Bone collagen structure in normal and pathological tissues is presented using techniques of thin section transmission electron microscopy and morphometry. In pathological tissue, deviations from normal fine structure are reflected in abnormal arrangements of collagen fibrils and abnormalities in fibril diameter. The relationships between these bone structural changes and the skeletal calcium/phosphorus ratio are discussed. Calcium/phosphorus ratio is measured by X-ray absorptiometry and computed microtomography.

Osteoporosis is a systemic skeletal disorder associated with reduced bone mineral density and the consequent high risk of bone fractures. Current practice relates osteoporosis largely with absolute mass loss. The assessment of variations in chemical composition in terms of the main elements comprising the bone mineral and its effect on the bone's quality is usually neglected. In this study, we evaluate the ratio of the main elements of bone mineral, calcium (Ca), and phosphorus (P), as a suitable in vitro biomarker for induced osteoporosis. The Ca/P concentration ratio was measured at different sites of normal and osteoporotic rabbit bones using two spectroscopic techniques: Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Results showed that there is no significant difference between samples from different genders or among cortical bone sites. On the contrary, we found that the Ca/P ratio of trabecular bone sections is comparable to cortical sections with induced osteoporosis. Ca/P ratio values are positively related to induced bone loss; furthermore, a different degree of correlation between Ca and P in cortical and trabecular bone is evident. This study also discusses the applicability of AES and EDX to the semiquantitative measurements of bone mineral's main elements along with the critical experimental parameters.

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