Figure 6.

Active vitamin D compounds, but not cinacalcet, improve mineralization of the epiphyses and increase mineralized trabeculae. Representative longitudinal sections of three-dimensional reconstructed distal ends of the femurs are shown: from wild-type mice; from 1α(OH)ase null mice on a high-calcium intake (h) treated with vehicle, 1,25(OH)₂D₃, doxercalciferol, and cinacalcet; from 1α(OH)ase null mice on a rescue diet (r) treated with vehicle, and cinacalcet. Two-dimensional images of the femora were obtained by micro-CT to generate three-dimensional reconstructions from 20 adjacent images as described in Concise Methods. White arrows denote mineralization in the secondary ossification sites in the epiphyses and grey arrows denote mineralized bony trabeculae in the metaphyses.