Effects of acute acid loading on parathyroid hormone secretion and on urinary calcium and cAMP excretion in the growing lamb

Growing lambs fed a diet containing NaHCO3 were made acidotic by intravenously infusing HCl at the rate of 1 mmol/min over a 4 h period. Acid infusion led to a fall in blood and urine pH and a prompt increase in urinary Ca excretion. This in turn led to a fall in plasma Ca concentration and a rise in parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels. Urinary cAMP excretion was unaffected by acid infusion. In separate experiments lambs made acidotic by feeding a diet containing NH4Cl were given infusions of PTH at the rate of 1 microgram/h. Infusion of the hormone was accompanied by a rise in plasma Ca and an increase rather than a decrease in urinary Ca excretion and no change in urinary cAMP excretion. These results point to the kidney as the primary site of response to acid loading in the lamb, a failure to reabsorb Ca in these conditions necessitating the release of PTH and an increase in bone resorption in order to maintain normal plasma Ca levels.