Abstract:

Objective  To analyze the effects of nicotine on the bone calcium and phosphorus content and alkaline phosphatase(ALP) activity in rat alveolar bone and mandible. Methods  Twenty health male Wistar rats of five weeks of age were randomly assigned to two groups and received daily intraperitoneal injections for three months as follows: Saline solution for control group, nicotine 0.73 mg·kg-1·d-1 for experimental group. The bone calcium phosphorus content were detected by concentrated acid digestion method and the ALP activity was examined by improved Reddi method. Results  Compared to the control group, bone calcium and phosphorus content was lower in the experimental group(P<0.05), ALP activity had no statistical significance(P>0.05). Bone calcium phosphorus and ALP activity in different parts had no statistical significance(P>0.05). Conclusion  The nicotine reduces calcium phosphorus deposition of jaw bone, but has no obvious influence to ALP activity.

Key words: nicotine, alveolar bone, jaw bone, calcium, phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase