FURTHER STUDIES ON THE ACTION OF PARATHYROID EXTRACT IN THE DOG FOLLOWING TOTAL AND PARTIAL ABLATION OF THE KIDNEYS

The complete elucidation of the clinical entity known as renal rickets is dependent upon a better understanding of the functional relationship of the kidneys and the parathyroids. In this connection the importance of studies on the action of parathyroid extract in the nephrectomized animal is apparent. In a recent publication Ellsworth and Futcher (1) reported that the serum calcium of the bilaterally nephrectomized dog can be increased by the injection of parathyroid hormone. However, Tweedy, Templeton, and Mcjunkin (2), who carried out a long series of experiments, were unable to obtain conclusive evidence of the action of exogenous parathyroid hormone in increasing the serum calcium of the nephrectomized dog. Further evidence is presented in this paper that the characteristic action of exogenous parathyroid hormone is not manifested by an increase in serum calcium in the absence of kidney tissue.