1,25-Dihydroxycholecalciferol increases bone resorption in thyroparathyroidectomised mice

Mice, 1 week old, prelabelled with 45Ca, were either thyroparathyroidectomised or sham-operated; 1 day later half of the mice of each group were injected with 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol (5 ng/g), and 20 h later all the mice were killed. Bone resorption in explants was then measured by an in vivo/in vitro technique previously published; compared with untreated mice it was found that 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol had increased resorption irrespective of whether the mice had been thyroparathyroidectomised or not. These data suggest that 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol is able to increase bone resorption independently of parathyroid hormone.