Short-term continuous infusion of human parathyroid hormone 1-34 fragment is catabolic with decreased trabecular connectivity density accompanied by hypercalcemia in C57BL/J6 mice.
Parathyroid hormone (PTH) stimulates bone resorption as well as bone formation in vivo and in organ culture. The catabolic actions of PTH have been recognized in patients with hyperparathyroidism, or with acute infusion of the N-terminal 1-34 fragment of human PTH (hPTH1-34). Whereas the anabolic actions of daily injection with PTH have been well studied in both humans and mice, the catabolic actions of PTH on murine bone remain to be defined. To do this we sought to create a model with short-term, sustained hyperparathyroidism using osmotic infusion pumps. We treated 10-week-old female C57BL/J6 mice with continuous infusion of hPTH1-34 (8.1 pmol/0.25 microl per h, equivalent to 40 microg/kg per day) or vehicle for 2 weeks, using Alzet osmotic pumps. Bone mineral density (BMD), serum total calcium, hPTH1-34, mouse intact PTH (mPTH1-84), osteocalcin and mouse tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (mTRAP) activity, and microarchitectural variables of the distal femur were measured. Separately, we compared the effects of intermittent daily injection of hPTH1-34 (40 microg/kg per day) with continuous infusion of hPTH1-34 on BMD and bone markers. Exogenous hPTH1-34 was detected only in the PTH-infused mice. Both intermittent and continuous treatment with hPTH1-34 markedly suppressed endogenous mPTH1-84, but only the latter induced hypercalcemia. Daily PTH injection significantly increased both serum osteocalcin and mTRAP, while continuous PTH infusion showed a strong trend to stimulate mTRAP, with a slight but non-significant increase in osteocalcin. There were significant differences in BMD at all sites between animals treated with the same daily dose of intermittent and continuous hPTH1-34. Micro-computed tomography (muCT) analysis of the distal femurs revealed that hPTH1-34 infusion significantly decreased trabecular connectivity density (P<0.05). Thus, the murine bone response to continuous PTH infusion was quite different from that seen with daily PTH injection. Short-term infusion of hPTH1-34 appears to be a good model to study the mechanisms underlying the catabolic action of PTH in mice.