The Rate of Bone Mineralization in Birds Is Directly Related to Alkaline Phosphatase Activity

Recent studies have suggested that a biochemical marker, plasma alkaline phosphatase (ALP), can be used as a general indicator of skeletal development in vertebrate animals. In birds, age‐related variation in ALP activity, presumably due to bone formation processes, has been demonstrated, but to dat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physiological and biochemical zoology 2008-01, Vol.81 (1), p.106-111
Main Authors: Tilgar, Vallo, Kilgas, Priit, Viitak, Anu, Reynolds, S. James
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alkaline Phosphatase - metabolism
Animal wings
Animals
Aves
Blood plasma
Bone Development
Bone mineralization
Bones
Calcification, Physiologic - physiology
Chicks
Legs
Liver
Long bones
Parus major
Passeriformes - physiology
Skeleton
Tarsus
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Summary:Recent studies have suggested that a biochemical marker, plasma alkaline phosphatase (ALP), can be used as a general indicator of skeletal development in vertebrate animals. In birds, age‐related variation in ALP activity, presumably due to bone formation processes, has been demonstrated, but to date, a direct connection between bone mineralization and enzyme activity has been elusive. In this study, we show that the activity of a bone isoform of ALP (bone ALP) is closely related to the overall rate of skeletal mineralization in nestlings of a small passerine bird, the great tit (Parus majorL). Moreover, bone ALP activity predicted the rate of mineralization of leg and wing bones but not that of the skull. Liver isoform of ALP was only marginally related to the overall rate of skeletal mineralization, while no association with the mineralization of long bones was found. We conclude that bone ALP activity in the blood plasma is a reliable biomarker for skeletal mineralization in birds. This marker enables detection of subtle developmental differences between chicks of similar structural size, potentially facilitating the prediction of offspring mid‐ and long‐term survival.
ISSN:1522-2152
1537-5293
DOI:10.1086/523305