Application of inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and quality assurance to study the incorporation of strontium into bone, bone marrow, and teeth of dogs after one month of treatment with strontium malonate.

The strontium content of serum, bone, marrow, and teeth was determined by inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Significant correlations were obtained after the data were subjected to quality assurance (QA) performed according to validated procedures. After four weeks of treatment with strontium malonate, strontium levels increased from 76 +/- 9 microg g(-1) in placebo-treated dogs to levels of 7.2 +/- 1.7 mg g(-1), 9.5 +/- 2.7 mg g(-1), and 9.8 +/- 2.7 mg g(-1) in groups treated with 300, 1000, and 3000 mg kg(-1) day(-1), respectively. Strontium induced a highly significant increase in the bone formation marker, bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BSAP), and an excellent correlation was found with the bone-strontium content. In females, the placebo-treated group showed a decrease in BSAP of 53%, whereas the three strontium malonate-treated groups showed an increase of 60, 276, and 278% for the groups treated with 300, 1000, and 3000 mg kg(-1) day(-1), respectively. For males the corresponding values were -44%, +142%, +194%, and +247% increases in BSAP in the placebo, 300, 1000, and 3000 mg kg(-1) day(-1) groups respectively.