The effect of protracted tetracycline treatment on bone growth and maturation.

Mature female rhesus monkeys were used to evaluate the effects of a one-year course of tetracycline (50 mg/kg/day, intramuscularly) on the formation, maturation, and mineralization of mandibular bone. The bones from the treated group contained normal concentrations of calcium (Ca), inorganic phosphorus (Pi), and hydroxyproline (HO-Pr), and the treatment schedule did not alter the distribution (percentage) of total osteons into slightly, moderately, and highly mineralization classes. Tetracycline impairs bone mineralization and the subsequent maturation of the mineral and matrix moieties. The percentage of highly mineralized osteons labeled with tetracycline is subnormal. Density gradient fractionation studies indicate the presence of abnormally high Ca/Pi ratios in the temporally young newly formed bone mineral and somewhat higher ratios in the most mature bone fraction. Protracted tetracycline treatment at high dosages impairs bone growth and maturation in adult rhesus monkeys.