Effect of parathyroid hormone on renal tubular permeability

The effect of parathyroid hormone (PTH) on renal tubular permeability has been studied utilizing micropuncture techniques in the rat kidney. After microinjection into superificial nephrons during control conditions, inulin (98.8 +/- 2.7%) and mannitol (97.2 +/- 2.4%) recovery from the experimental kidney was essentially complete. During intravenous infusion of PTH, inulin (99.3 +/- 2.9%) recovery was again complete. Mannitol recovery decreased signficantly after both early-proximal (84.7 +/- 5.8%, P less than 0.001) and late-proximal (89.7 +/- 2.8%, P less than 0.001) injections. There was no loss of either mannitol or inulin following distal tubular injection. Late-proximal TF/P inulin ratios during control conditions were 2.10 +/- 0.20 and decreased insignificantly to 1.99 +/- 0.21 during PTH infusion. Late-proximal TF/P mannitol rations were 2.09 +/- 0.21 during control periods and during PTH infusion decreased significantly to 1.78 +/- 0.19 (P less than 0.001). These results indicate that PTH induces a change in proximal tubular permeability to a usually impermeable nonelectrolyte, mannitol. The effects of PTH on proximal tubular transport could be partially explained by this alteration in permeability, which would increase passive backflux of actively transported species and decrease net transport while having no effect on active transport.