Effect of ACTH on PTH-stimulated bone resorption in vitro

In vitro demonstration of PTH effects requires hormone concentrations greater than the "physiological" concentrations reported by radioimmunoassay or cytochemical assays. This discrepancy could be the result of binding or destruction of PTH at nonbiologically active sites. In the present study, ACTH was found to have no effect by itself on bone resorption, but addiction of ACTH to bone cultures together with low concentrations of PTH resulted in a specific enhancement of PTH-stimulated bone resorption. This effect was not observed when bone resorption was stimulated by PGE2 and 1,25(OH)2D3, and it was blocked by human serum. The effect of ACTH is similar to the enhancement in PTH-stimulated bone resorption by poly-l-lysine [7]. We suggest that the amplification of PTH stimulation was the result of displacement of PTH from nonbiologically active sites, making more PTH available for binding to its biologically active receptor. An alternative explanation for our results was that ACTH prevented degradation of PTH by bone-derived proteolytic enzymes. Thus the sensitivity of bioassays for PTH could be improved by adding ACTH.