Relation of Parathyroid Function and Diet to the Mineral Composition of the Bones in Rats at the Conclusion of Pregnancy

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Abstract
Failure to maintain the serum calcium at a normal level in the pregnant, parathyroidectomized rat suggests a deficiency in the mobilization of calcium from bone. This deficiency in mobilization of the bone salts is also demonstrated by the finding that in general the long bones obtained at the conclusion of a pregnancy weighed more, in relation to the pregestational body weight, in the parathyroid-deficient rats than in the controls. The per cent of ash of the bones was likewise higher in the parathyroid-deficient rats than in the controls, while the calcium-phosphorus ratios were, on the average, nearly identical. These relations held for various levels of calcium and phosphorus intake, the exception being diet no. 16 of Cox and Imboden. On this diet, which is rachitogenic because of its high calcium content and high calcium-phosphorus ratio, the disparity in the bone weight coefficients between normal and parathyroidectomized pregnant rats was abolished.