Alkaline and acid phosphatase activity in the dynamics of ectopic osteogenesis

Activities of marker enzymes of osteoblasts (alkaline phosphatase), osteoclasts (tartrate-resistant isoform of acid phosphatase), and macrophages (tartrate-sensitive isoform of acid phosphatase) in bone tissue forming after osteoinduction on the basis of demineralized bone matrix were under study. Early (1 week) stages of osteosynthesis were characterized by low activity of alkaline phosphatase, acid phosphatase being represented by the tartrate-sensitive isoform. Two-three weeks later alkaline phosphatase activity grew and the tartrate-resistant isoform of acid phosphatase appeared. By the fourth-sixth weeks of osteogenesis alkaline phosphatase activity stabilized at a certain level and acid phosphatase activity still grew at the expense of the tartrate-resistant isoform. Conformity of the enzymologic data to changes in cellular populations in ectopic osteogenesis is discussed.