Effect of acute and chronic flüoride administration on bone histopathology, bone flüoride accumulation and locomotor activity in an animal model for paleopathological fluorosis


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Türkekul R., Arıhan S. K., Yıldırım S., Arıhan O., Oto G., Ekin S., ...More

Fluoride, vol.53, pp.77-89, 2020 (SCI-Expanded)

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 53
  • Publication Date: 2020
  • Journal Name: Fluoride
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, Aqualine, BIOSIS, CAB Abstracts, EMBASE, Veterinary Science Database, Directory of Open Access Journals
  • Page Numbers: pp.77-89
  • Van Yüzüncü Yıl University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Fluorosis may be identified in skeletal materials from ancient civilizations

by macroscopic signs in teeth and bone and hard tissue fluoride levels. In the present

study, human teeth, femoral, and rib specimens from the Van Fortress excavation, in

Turkey, were examined for the presence of fluorosis. In addition, an animal study in rats

was conducted as a model of human fluorosis, by examining the effects of fluoride

administration, in various doses and for different durations, on weight loss, locomotor

activity, fluoride accumulation, and deformation in bone and teeth. Fifty-six adult male

Wistar albino rats, weighing 150–200 g, were divided into 7 different groups of 8 rats.

Four acute groups were treated with 0 (control), 5, 15, and 50 mg/L of fluoride in drinking

water for 7 days and three chronic groups were treated with 5, 15, and 50 mg/L of

fluoride for 90 days. The results of the analysis of the human samples from the Van

Fortress excavation showed that none of the dental, femoral, or rib samples had a

fluoride content that was significantly greater than that of the surrounding soil. The

results of the rat study showed that no significant differences between the groups were

found in body weight on days 1, 30, 60, and 90. The rotarod locomotor test showed a

significant (p<0.05) dose- and time-dependent reduction in locomotor activity as a result

of the fluoride administration in the 50 mg/L chronic fluoride group compared to the

control, 5 mg/L acute fluoride, 15 mg/L acute fluoride, and 5 mg/L chronic fluoride

groups. Significant fluoride accumulation was found in the femoral neck (cortical

tissue), the femoral head (trabecular tissue), and in rib bone. Light microscopy showed

a severe thinning of the epiphyseal growth plate and bone trabeculae in the femoral

bone tissue. We concluded that femoral bone (cortical and trabecular parts) and ribs are

good sites for assessing the effects of fluoride exposure in animal models of human

fluorosis.

Keywords: Anthropology; Dental fluorosis; Histopathology; Paleopathology; Skeletal fluorosis; Van.