PTH-like glucagon stimulation of Ca and Mg reabsorption in Henle's loop of the rat

The effects of glucagon and PTH on renal tubular electrolyte handling were studied in anesthetized, thyroparathyroidectomized Brattleboro rats infused with somatostatin. Fractional excretion of Ca and Mg was significantly lower during infusion of both hormones. Micropunctures of same nephrons localized the bulk of the increase in reabsorption in Henle's loop, where both hormones significantly enhanced the reabsorptive capacities for Ca, Mg, and K. Beyond the early distal tubule, Ca and Mg reabsorption was significantly greater during glucagon infusion and Ca reabsorption was significantly greater during PTH infusion. Cyclic adenosine monophosphate at a plasma concentration of 10(-6) M did not reproduce the effects of either glucagon or PTH. These results are similar to the findings reported for the effects of ADH and calcitonin on Ca, Mg, and K tubular handling, but different as far as Na and Cl are concerned, since their loop reabsorption was not significantly altered by glucagon and PTH. The data obtained here for glucagon and PTH, together with those for ADH and calcitonin, support the hypothesis that these four hormones exert similar effects in the thick ascending limb.