Occurrence of calcitonin cells and cysts in the parathyroid of the house shrew, Suncus murinus.

The present report deals with the occurrence of calcitonin cells (C cells) and cysts in the parathyroid IV of Suncus murinus. Histological preparations of the thyro-parathyroid complex reveal that (i) the parathyroid IV exhibits C cells either solitarily or in small groups (compact or follicular arrangement); (ii) the parathyroid IV also exhibits cysts (similar to those of the thyroid), the lining of these may contain either few C cells or it may be a continuous lining of C cells; (iii) the lumina of these cysts are filled with debris and desquamated cells with pycnotic nuclei, and (iv) sometimes few C cells are encountered hanging from the epithelial lining inside the lumen of the cyst.