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

摘要

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 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.