Changes in calcium phosphate on bone surfaces and in lining cells after the administration of parathyroid hormone or calcitonin.

Small doses of parathyroid hormone and calcitonin were injected into thyroparathyroidectomized newborn rats to investigate the histological and chemical changes in bone surfaces and in mitochondrial granules of bone lining cells. Nondecalcified tissue specimens were observed under transmission electron microscope, electron probe X-ray microanalyzer, and microdiffraction after "freeze substitution" preparation of tibia shafts. Amorphous calcium phosphate, which appears as clusters and globules by this "freeze substitution" preparation, appears on the bone surfaces in a short time after the administration of a small dose of calcitonin. The Ca:PO4 ratio in the mitochondria of bone lining cells rises slightly with a small dose of parathyroid hormone and is reduced with a small dose of calcitonin. These data support the postulate that both parathyroid hormone and calcitonin act directly on bone lining cells in the process of influencing calcium concentrations of blood and temporarily storing calcium at bone surfaces.