Bone mineral loss during lactation occurs in absence of parathyroid tissue

The requirement of parathyroid tissue for bone mineral loss during lactation was investigated. Lactating rats parathyroidectomized (PTX) at day 2 of lactation and consuming a 2% calcium diet are hypercalcemic and hypophosphatemic at day 13 of lactation. The high-calcium diet supports normal growth of pups nursing PTX mothers. PTX lactating rats mobilize bone mineral to the same extent as euparathyroid lactating rats consuming the same diet. Non-lactating PTX rats lose no bone mineral over a similar time period, indicating lactation-specific bone mineral mobilization in the absence of parathyroid tissue. PTX rats were verified to have physiologically insignificant amounts of parathyroid tissue, as evidenced by severe hypocalcemia and/or death in each rat after a shift from a 2% calcium to a 0.02% calcium diet. These results conclusively demonstrate that lactation-associated bone mineral mobilization does not require parathyroid hormone or parathyroid tissue.