THE CALCIUM-LOWERING HORMONE (PCS) SECRETED BY THE EEL CORPUSCLES OF STANNIUS IS STRUCTURALLY RELATED TO PARATHYROID-HORMONE

  • 1 January 1980
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 291  (12) , 977-980
Abstract
Extracts of the corpuscles of Stannius [CS] enhance eel gill Ca efflux and increase bone resorption in the rat. The hormone is hypocalcemic in the eel although hypercalcemic in the rat. A 15 min pulse perfusion of a synthetic fragment of human PTH [parathyroid hormone] 1-34 had a similar effect on gill Ca fluxes to that of CS extract. Eel plasma contains a substance reacting with 5 different antibodies against bovine PTH. The concentration of this plasma material is enhanced 7-fold by parenteral Ca and rendered extremely low or absent by CS removal. A convenient name for this major Ca-regulating hormone is parathyrin of the CS since this reflects both its glandular source and chemical structure.