Abstract
Summary
1. Collagen metabolism in femur, rib, vertebrae and skull of rats at 5 weeks, 6 months and 2 years of age has been studied following intraperitoneal injection of glycine-2-14C. 2. The SA of soluble collagen reached its maximum within a fraction of a day and decreased rapidly. The multicomponent feature of the soluble collagen is shown by the SA vs time curves. 3. No difference could be found in the maximal SA of soluble collagen among 3 different age groups. In contrast, slower decay of the soluble collagen was observed with increasing age of the rats. 4. Very active synthesis of insoluble collagen was observed in rats of 5 weeks of age. The rate of such synthesis was decreased in rats 6 months and 2 years of age. 5. The SA of insoluble collagen reached its maximum in 3-10 days and decreased slowly in 5 weeks old rats. This maximum occurred late in the 6 months old rats. No decay could be observed in the 2-year-old rats. 6. Similar metabolic behavior of soluble collagen and insoluble collagen was shown in femur, rib and vertebrae. A relatively less capacity and slower metabolism was seen in insoluble collagen of skull as compared with the rest of the bones studied.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.