Effect of fasting on tubular phosphorus reabsorption

In the thyroparathyroidectomized (TPTX) rat, fasting increased urinary phosphorus excretion by decreasing the tubular reabsorption of P1 (TRP) and resulted in hypophosphatemia. The administration of either sucrose or NaHCO3 prevented the metabolic acidosis associated with fasting and decreased the phosphaturia, indicating that the phosphaturia in fasting is in part due to metabolic acidosis. In rats on partial reduction of P1 intake selectively, the phosphaturic response to parathyroid hormone (PTH) was completely suppressed. On the other hand, the fasting rat partially retained the phosphaturic response to PTH, although dietary P1 intake was totally absent. These findings suggest that the renal P1 wasting in fasting may take place by dual mechanisms: a) the PTH-independent decrease in TRP, and b) an inability to totally suppress the response to PTH. Cyclic AMP generation in response to PTH, determined both in vivo and in vitro, was not measurably altered in fasting. However, the phosphaturic response to cyclic AMP was decreased in fasting, suggesting that the mechanism of partial resistance to PTH is probably not at but after cyclic AMP generation.