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In Vitro Carbohydrate Metabolism 

 of Bone: Effect of Treatment of 

 Intact Animal with Parathyroid Extract 



BERNARD K. FORSCHER,* School of Dentistry, University of Kansas 

 City, Kansas City, Missouri 



DAVID V. COHN, Kansas City Veterans Administration Hospital, 

 Kansas City, Missouri 



BONE resorption induced by parathyroid extract provides a con- 

 venient experimental svstem and has been used by a number of 

 investigators in attempts to determine the chemical alterations re- 

 sponsible for dissolving the mineral of bone in vivo. Although resorp- 

 tion of bone has been observed to result from a variety of biologic 

 stimuli, the effect of parathyroid extract is the simplest to produce 

 experimentally, and it is hoped that elucidation of the mechanism 

 of this phenomenon ma\' provide clues for explaining resorption 

 initiated by some of the other stimuli. 



Consideration of the chemical aspects of the problem of dissolving 

 the minerals of bone suggests three possible mechanisms. One of 

 these would require an alteration of metabolism within the bone 

 cells, such that an increased concentration of molecules or ions capa- 

 ble of chelating calcium would be produced. The second would re- 

 quire metabolic alteration leading to an increased concentration of 

 hydrogen ions in the immediate environment of the bone crystals. 



" Present address: Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota. 



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