Impaired renal response to parathyroid hormone in potassium depletion

In potassium depletion, a possible alteration of the proximal tubular response to parathyroid hormone (PTH) was evaluated in rat kidney. 1) There were impairments of both phosphaturic and urinary cyclic AMP responses to PTH. The site of the impairment was further investigated by studying the PTH-dependent cycle AMP system in renal cortex. 2) There was a lesser increase of cyclic AMP concentration by PTH in potassium-depleted slices, indicating the lesser urinary cyclic AMP was due to the specific impairment of PTH-dependent cyclic AMP in the kidney. 3). The activation of adenylate cyclase by PTH was impaired , but phosphodiesterase activity was not affected by potassium depletion, indicating the impairment of cyclic AMP generation was due to inhibition of adenylate cyclase. 4) The phosphaturic response to dibutyryl cyclic AMP infusion was also significantly less in the potassium-depleted animals, indicating the step subsquent to the cyclic AMP generation is also impaired. All above results indicate that, in potassium depletion, the renal response to PTH is impaired, and the impairment is both within the step of cyclic AMP generation and after the cyclic AMP generation.