FULL PAPER Anatomy Role of Collagen and Inorganic Components in Electrical Polarizability of Bone

ABSTRACT. Hydroxyapatite (HA) has polarization capability and is able to accumulate electrical storage in bone. Experiments were conducted to measure the polarization capability of rabbit femurs. After preparing and polarizing bone samples using 2 % KOH treatment (denoted 2% koh), 2 % KOH and baking (2 % koh+bake) and decalcification (decalcification) as well as untreated bone (untreated), stored charges were quantitatively determined using thermally stimulated depolarization current (TSDC) measurements. In TSDC spectra, untreated and 2 % koh samples showed peaks at 100 and 500°C, while 2 % koh+bake showed one peak at 580°C and decalcification one peak around 100°C. These evidences indicated that collagen and inorganic components play a major role in polarization of the bone at different temperature conditions. KEY WORDS: bone, collagen, hydroxyapatite, polarizability. doi: 10.1292/jvms.13-0229; J. Vet. Med. Sci. 76(2): 205–210, 2014 It was recognized by early studies that stimulation by mechanical loading, such as walking, has an influence on bone’s remodeling [3]. According to Wolff’s law proposed by Julius Wolff in 1892 [1], bone could functionally adapt to a new principal stress trajectories, in response to trauma or change of lifestyle, through reorienting its bony trabeculae. In the 1960s, it was conducted to apply mechanical forc