ERYTHROPOIETIN-INDUCED CHANGES IN PLASMA CALCIUM AND BONE MARROW MITOSIS IN THE RAT

Abstract

SUMMARY Subcutaneous injections of ovine erythropoietin preparations caused parallel increases in bone marrow mitotic activity and plasma calcium concentrations. These activities appeared to be a specific property of the erythropoietin molecule and were not due to an impurity. The increased mitosis and hypercalcaemia which followed erythropoitein injection in normal rats did not occur in the aparathyroid animal. Although a functional parathyroid gland was essential for the erythropoietin-induced changes, the mode of interaction between erythropoietin and the parathyroid gland remains to be established.