The influence of X-ray radiation on the mineral/organic matrix interaction of bone tissue: an FT-IR microscopic investigation.

Fourier transform infrared microscopy was used to investigate human cortical bone samples before and after treatment with increasing doses of X-ray radiation. Especially the spectral region of the v1 and v3 phosphate vibrations of hydroxyapatite, the main mineral component of bone, and the region of the amide I and amide II vibrational bands due to the collagen extracellular matrix were examined. Major spectral changes in the phosphate region between 1250-1000 cm(-1) occur after irradiation doses between 1 and 4 Gray. These findings are explained by a decrease in size of mineral crystallites and by variances of the toichiometric/non-stoichiometric apatite composition. The Ca2+ /PO4(3-) /HPO4(2-) composition in the biological apatite is altered near the bone surface. The secondary structure of the collagen matrix is not affected by cumulative irradiation up to doses of 15 Gray as indicated by the unchanged frequency maximum and contour shape of the amide I band between 1600-1700 cm(-1) . However, side chain carboxylate groups of the collagen matrix that are involved in coordination with apatite bound calcium ions are partially removed by decarboxylation upon irradiation. Concomitantly, a loss of acidic phosphate groups due to a formation of phosphate groups with bound calcium is observed. These changes on a molecular level can be correlated with alterations in the mechanical properties of the bone samples, e.g. with an increased embrittlement as deduced from experiments with a scanning acoustic microscope.