Pulmonary immunoreactive calcitonin in the African green monkey (Cercopithecus aethiops): Anatomic distribution

The hormone calcitonin, which occurs predominantly within the C cells of the mammalian thyroid gland, is also found within the pulmonary endocrine cells of the epithelium of the tracheobronchial tree. A study was made of the distribution of immunoreactive calcitonin (iCT) in the African green monkey. Using two different region-specific antisera, the total respiratory iCT comprised 2.5% and 5.8% of the total thyroid iCT. The mean concentration of iCT in the right lung exceeded that in the left, and the mean concentration of the right middle or right upper lobe exceeded that of all other lobes. Embryologically, the ultimobranchial bodies contribute their iCT-producing C cell primordia to the thyroid gland near the level of the primitive laryngotracheal cleft and shortly after the early arborization of the bronchial tree. In monkeys and most other mammals, the right main stem bronchus is larger and develops earlier than the left. The data suggest an early migration of cells from the ultimobranchial bodies to the bronchi, eventually giving rise to the iCT-containing pulmonary endocrine cells.