Strontium distribution in bones and tissues of strontium ranelate-administrated rats

Abstract Strontium accumulation and distribution are determined in bones of rats after strontium ranelate administration by using time‐of‐flight SIMS technique. Strontium ranelate is a newly developed drug effective in osteoporosis treatment by reducing bone resorption and promoting bone formation. The motivation is to study the strontium accumulation and distribution in bones and possible accumulations of strontium in soft tissues such as brain, liver and heart, are tested. The investigated rats are divided in the control group, one without strontium ranelate administration, and the other group of rats after five weeks of administration, with daily dose of 400 mg/kg. When the strontium ranelate‐treated bone samples are compared with the control, strontium is spectrally resolved and clearly identified within two‐dimensional distribution. Similar contours of calcium and strontium in two‐dimensional images support the hypothesis that strontium is capable of replacing calcium atoms as a part of the strontium ranelate mechanism in the osteoporosis treatment. Molecular ions, characteristic for biological samples as phospholipids, cholesterol and fatty acids are also identified. Strontium presence in heart, brain and liver tissues is not observed. Chemical characterization of biological samples in intact form without any chemical labeling by using SIMS could be, in this way, helpful in medical diagnostics. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.