THE EFFECT OF HYPOCALCAEMIA ON THE SECRETION OF CALCITONIN

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Abstract
SUMMARY: Hypocalcaemia was produced by i.v. infusion of EDTA into pigs from which the thyroid venous effluent could be quantitatively collected. Calcitonin in the effluent was measured by radioimmunoassay. Reduction of plasma calcium concentration rapidly suppressed the secretion of calcitonin. In contrast, as plasma calcium was raised slowly from hypocalcaemic levels by infusion of CaCl2, calcitonin secretion quickly returned and increased rapidly. The secretion rate observed when the plasma calcium concentration had been raised from hypocalcaemia to the initial normocalcaemic level was 3½–10 times greater than that observed during the normocalcaemia which pertained at the start of each experiment. A previous period of hypocalcaemia also produced an exaggerated response to a subsequent hypercalcaemic stimulus. It is suggested that the preconditioned response of calcitonin secretion increases the efficiency of the role of calcitonin in calcium homeostasis.

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