Preliminary determination of calcium, phosphorus, and the calcium/phosphorus ratio in cortical bone of Chinstrap penguin using synchrotron X-ray fluorescence analysis

• Main Authors: Zhouqing, Xie, Bangbo, Cheng, Liguang, Sun, Yuying, Huang, Wei, He, Sanping, Zhao
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Polar Research Institute of China - PRIC 2006
• Subjects: Advances in Polar Science; Antarc*; Antarctica; Chinstrap penguin; Polar Science; Pygoscelis antarctica
• Online Access: http://library.arcticportal.org/2304/; http://library.arcticportal.org/2304/1/A200601005.pdf

Synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence (SR-XRF) approach was applied to analyzing of Chinstrap penguin (Pygoscelis Antarctica) cortical bone. The method enabled the in situ determination of Ca and P concentrations and the Ca/P ratio in cortical bone. The preliminary results show that (1) there is the bone site-related difference for Ca and P concentrations. The mean values for the investigated parameters (on a dry-weight basis) are 30.7% (Ca) and 14.9% (P) for the femoral cortical bone, 21.4% (Ca) and 11.5% (P) for wing cortical bone. (2) The variation for the Ca/P ratio in cortical bone is lower than those for Ca/P ratio in cortical bone is lower than those for Ca and P separately. This is in agreement with the previous report that the specificity of the Ca/P ratio is better than that of Ca and P concentrations and is more reliable for the diagnosis of bone disorders. The authors suggest that further studies be conducted to establish normal values of Ca, P and Ca/P ratio for polar animals and provide a basis for the diagnosis of bone disorders.