Influence of Fluorine on Phosphatase Activities of Plasma and Tissues of Chicks

It is now generally recognized that most of the ingested fluorine retained by the animal is deposited in the bones and teeth. Metabolic disturbances in the bone and other tissues of high phosphatase content are often accompanied by increased phosphatase activity above the normal level, the increase being, in general, correlated with the severity of the condition. Phillips (1932) found a progressive rise in plasma phosphatase, coincident with an increase in the severity of gross symptoms of toxicosis in dairy cows fed a high fluorine ration. Other investigators have shown that plasma phosphatase concentration was not a sensitive criterion of fluorosis in man and rat (see Mitchell and Edman, 1952). Recently, it was shown in our laboratory that in the rat the phosphatase activities of plasma, bone, liver and kidney were not suitable criteria of the degree of fluorosis (Maplesden, 1957). Some of the phosphorus supplements contain appreciable amounts of . . .