Myositis Ossificans Traumatica:The Mechanism of Localization of the Calcium Deposits in Muscle Cells

摘要

1. The local mechanism of calcification was investigated in:(a) small samples of muscle saturated with calcium ions in in¬organic solutions in vitro;(b) the intact quadriceps following injections of calcium and other ions in the living rat.n2. Muscle treated in solutions of 25 mM/L of calcium chloride for 1 hour in vitro, and fixed in 70 per cent alcohol, did not produce alizarin dye lake precipitation or an X-ray diffraction pattern of apatite, hut showed very fine granules of silver stain¬ing organic material in the myoplasm.n3. Intramuscular injections of 25 mM/L CaCl2, containing radioactive calcium (Ca ), produced selective intracellular binding of calcium and subsequently calcification of the cyto¬plasm. A period of h hours elapsed before there was, sufficient deposit to form a dye lake with alizarin or diffract X-rays to produce the pattern of apatite mineral.n4. Uptake of radioactive phosphorus ( P) was low in the initial phase, and high only in the later phases of calcification to coincide with the processes of crystal formation and crystal growth.n5. Calcification occurred after injections of various poly- ' valent cations, the same as after injections of calcium. The amount of calcifiable matrix produced by a cation, as measurednby the amount of calcification, followed the order:nFb>Ca>Fe > Sr > Mn > Mg.n6. Intramuscular injections of polyvalent anions had lyotropic action upon muscle tissue but did not transform muscle fibers into an organic matrix capable of calcification. Inorganic phosphatenin very high concentrations produced only a few widely scattered, scanty deposits of calcium salt in the space between the muscle bundles.n7. A theory of a triphasic mechanism and tripartite protein calcium phosphate complex is presented to interpret the above observations and explain the process of localization of the mineral salts inside the fabric of the tissue.