Actions of parathyroid hormone-related protein on the rat kidney in vivo

Peptides containing residues 1-34 of parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) and of bovine parathyroid hormone (bPTH), and recombinant full-length PTHrP(1-141) were infused i.v. into anaesthetized thyroparathyroidectomized rats to compare their action and potency on the renal handling of calcium, phosphate and cyclic AMP (cAMP) in vivo. All three peptides decreased the excretion of calcium and increased the excretion of phosphate and cAMP in the urine, with PTHrP(1-34) and PTHrP(1-141) having virtually equipotent effects. Thus the essential requirements for the major physiological activity of PTHrP on the kidney are contained within the 34 amino-terminal amino acids. For all three peptides, the lowest infusion rate that increased phosphate and cAMP excretion was 0.01 nmol/kg per h, whereas the lowest infusion rate that decreased calcium excretion was 0.025 nmol/kg per h for the PTHrP peptides and 0.1 nmol/kg per h for bPTH(1-34). The response to the PTHrP peptides was maximal at an infusion rate of 0.1 nmol/kg per h for both calcium and phosphate. Since the kidney is either equally sensitive to PTHrP and bPTH(1-34), or more sensitive to PTHrP than to bPTH(1-34), the hypercalcaemia of humoral hypercalcaemia of malignancy may develop because uncontrolled secretion of PTHrP increases the renal reabsorption of calcium to such an extent that even a modest increase in the inflow of calcium into the blood raises plasma calcium concentration.