Osteoclastogenesis of human peripheral blood, bone marrow, and cord blood monocytes.

Osteoclasts are multinucleated bone resorbing cells that can be differentiated from human monocytes in vitro. There are few studies comparing osteoclastogenesis of different monocyte sources. We compared monocytes from human bone marrow (BM), peripheral blood (PB), and umbilical cord blood (CB) and their osteoclastogenic potential by culturing them with RANKL (20 and 80 ng/ml) and M-CSF (10 ng/ml) for 14 days.

In utero deposition of trace elements and metals in tissues.

Introduction: All animals, including humans, are exposed to heavy metals which are known to accumulate in different tissues, especially in bone. During pregnancy, the maternal bone turnover is increased and the metals in the mother's body can be mobilized into the bloodstream. Heavy metals in maternal blood are known to pass through the placenta to the fetal blood and finally, deposited to bone tissue.