Quantitative Evaluation of Osteoporosis and Osteopenia by TXRF Analysis of Oral Fluids

H. J. SÁNCHEZ; M.S. GRENÓN; M.C. VALENTINUZZI; J. ABRAHAM; M. ÑAÑEZ; C. A. PÉREZ

Campinas, Brasil

Congreso; RAU 18; 2008

Osteoporosis, osteopenia and periodontal disease have in common several riskfactors. There is scarce information in the literature about the association be-tween periodontal disease and osteoporosis and/or osteopenia. Osteoporotic womenare propend to a higher loss of periodontal insertion, alveolar bones, and teeth.Since osteoporosis and osteopenia produce similar alterations to bone density andmetabolism than periodontal disease, elemental analysis of the mineral content oforal °uids could establish a correlation with the severity of those pathologies.Thirty adult women coming from a gynecologic service were studied. All hepatients were coursing post-menopause; some of them were healthy (control group)and the others were undergoing some stage of osteoporosis or osteopenia. They weresystemic healthy, non smoker, with no dental implants, and su®ering certain degreeof periodontal disease (CPI>1). Samples of saliva and gingival crevice °uid wereextracted with micro-capillaries and deposited on plate re°ectors. Known amountsof Ga were added to the samples in order to act as internal standard.The samples were analyzed by TXRF using two systems: beam guides mountedin a conventional spectrometer and standard TXRF using synchrotron radiation atthe XRF beamline of the LNLS. The conventional spectrometer consists of a 3 kWx-ray tube with a Mo target, an angular sample stage to align the beam guides, an8K multichannel analyzer. The TXRF station and the XRF beamline have beendescribed in detail previously. The spectra were analyzed with standard programsfor spectrum analysis and correlations were employed for the quanti¯cation.Elemental concentrations of several elements, from P to Zn, were determined.The concentration of some elements in saliva showed di®erent behavior as comparedto gingival crevice °uid. Some critical elements for bones, such as calcium and zinc,present very distinguishable behaviors. Improvements in the statistics are requiredfor a better assessment of a routine method and to establish some correlationwith periodontal disease. TXRF seems to be a promising method to evaluate theevolution of osteoporosis.