Bone seeker

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A bone seeker is an element, often a radioisotope, that tends to accumulate in the bones of humans and other animals when introduced into the body.

For example, strontium and radium are chemically similar to calcium and can replace the calcium in bones. [1] [2] Plutonium is also a bone seeker, though the mechanism by which it accumulates in bone tissue is unknown. [3]

Radioactive bone seekers are particular health risks as they irradiate surrounding tissue, though this can be useful for radiotherapy, such as in the case of radium-223. [2] [4] Stable bone seekers can also be harmful: excessive strontium absorption has been linked with increased levels of rickets. [5] [6] The salt strontium ranelate, however, is a bone seeker which is sometimes used to strengthen bones as a treatment for osteoporosis. [7] Bone seekers have been proposed as a method of delivering antibiotics to infected bone tissue. [8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Radionuclide Basics: Strontium-90". United States Environmental Protection Agency . 15 April 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
  2. 1 2 Suominen, Mari I.; Wilson, Timothy; Käkönen, Sanna-Maria; Scholz, Arne (10 August 2019). "The Mode-of-Action of Targeted Alpha Therapy Radium-223 as an Enabler for Novel Combinations to Treat Patients with Bone Metastasis". International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 20 (16): 3899. doi: 10.3390/ijms20163899 . PMC   6720648 . PMID   31405099.
  3. ↑ Vidaud, Claude; Miccoli, Laurent; Brulfert, Florian; Aupiais, Jean (26 November 2019). "Fetuin exhibits a strong affinity for plutonium and may facilitate its accumulation in the skeleton". Scientific Reports. 9 (1): 17584. Bibcode:2019NatSR...917584V. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-53770-6. PMC   6879641 . PMID   31772265.
  4. ↑ Marques, I.A.; Neves, A.R.; Abrantes, A.M.; Pires, A.S.; Tavares-da-Silva, E.; Figueiredo, A.; Botelho, M.F. (July 2018). "Targeted alpha therapy using Radium-223: From physics to biological effects". Cancer Treatment Reviews. 68: 47–54. doi:10.1016/j.ctrv.2018.05.011. PMID   29859504.
  5. ↑ Ozgur, S; Sumer, H; Kocoglu, G (1 December 1996). "Rickets and soil strontium". Archives of Disease in Childhood. 75 (6): 524–526. doi:10.1136/adc.75.6.524. PMC   1511822 . PMID   9014608.
  6. ↑ RELEVANCE TO PUBLIC HEALTH. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (US). April 2004. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
  7. ↑ Blake, Glen M; Fogelman, Ignac (December 2006). "Strontium ranelate: a novel treatment for postmenopausal osteoporosis: a review of safety and efficacy". Clinical Interventions in Aging. 1 (4): 367–375. doi: 10.2147/ciia.2006.1.4.367 . PMC   2699648 . PMID   18046914.
  8. ↑ Rotman, Stijn G.; Thompson, Keith; Grijpma, Dirk W.; Richards, Robert G.; Moriarty, Thomas F.; Eglin, David; Guillaume, Olivier (March 2020). "Development of bone seeker–functionalised microspheres as a targeted local antibiotic delivery system for bone infections". Journal of Orthopaedic Translation. 21: 136–145. doi:10.1016/j.jot.2019.07.006. PMC   7152806 . PMID   32309139.


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