BACKGROUND Injectable calcitonin is effective in reducing spinal bone loss in steroid-dependent asthma but side effects are frequent. In contrast, a nasal spray presentation has been shown to be effective and well tolerated in involutional osteoporosis. To test the efficacy of nasal calcitonin a two year prospective trial was conducted in 44 steroid-dependent asthmatic patients. METHODS All p...

Receptor activity-modifying proteins (RAMPs) are single-transmembrane proteins that transport the calcitonin receptor-like receptor (CRLR) to the cell surface. RAMP 1-transported CRLR is a calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor. RAMP 2- or RAMP 3-transported CRLR is an adrenomedullin receptor. The role of RAMPs beyond their interaction with CRLR, a class II G protein-coupled receptor, ...

Calcitonin, a 32–amino acid calcium-lowering peptide secreted by the C cells (parafollicular cells) of the thyroid, is used as a marker for medullary carcinoma of the thyroid (MCT). However, calcitonin is not specific for MCT, because it is also secreted by other neoplasms, including breast cancer and small cell lung cancer. Secretion of calcitonin is regulated primarily by the concentration of...

In the present study, we examined the regulatory mechanisms of calcitonin gene-related peptide on norepinephrine release in rat hypothalamus. Calcitonin gene-related peptide inhibited the stimulation-evoked norepinephrine release from hypothalamic slices of Sprague-Dawley rats in a dose-dependent manner, although the peptide did not affect basal release of norepinephrine. The blockade of the al...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the analgesic efficacy of calcitonin for treating the pain of vertebral fractures associated with osteoporosis. DATA SOURCES Searches of MEDLINE (1966-July 2002), Cochrane Library, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (1977-July 2002), and an extensive manual review of journals were performed using the key search terms calcitonin, analgesic, osteoporosis, vertebral fra...

This study was designed to examine the effect of calcitonin gene related peptide on gastric acid secretion in the rat. Calcitonin gene related peptide (1 pmol-1 nmol/rat) injected intravenously inhibited basal gastric acid secretion in awake, freely moving rats. Calcitonin gene related peptide decreased gastric secretion stimulated by histamine, pentagastrin, or bethanecol in anaesthetised rats...

Severe watery diarrhoea in a patient with medullary thryoid carcinoma and high calcitonin levels was associated with increased distal ileal flow. Plasma from the patient inhibited small intestinal fluid absorption in dogs without affecting mucosal cyclic AMP levels. When calcitonin was removed from the plasma, the effect in experimental bowel loops was abolished but could be restored on restitu...

We have investigated 13 families, each of which have one member with infantile hypercalcaemia/Williams-Beuren syndrome (IHWBS), for either a germ cell mutation of, or an association with, the calcitonin-CGRP gene. Restriction fragment mapping studies of the calcitonin-CGRP gene using five restriction enzymes (TaqI, Bg/II, PvuII, PstI, and SacI) and region specific probes failed to show any abno...

Parafollicular cells in mammalian thyroid glands are thought to be responsible for the secretion of calcitonin. In this study, calcitonin was localized in pig thyroid gland by an indirect immunocytochemical technique using rabbit antiserum directed against synthetic porcine calcitonin for the first step, and sheep Fab fragments prepared against rabbit Fab and coupled to cytochrome c for the sec...

background: endometriosis is a common, benign, oestrogen-dependent, chronic gynaecological disorder associated with pelvic pain and infertility. some researchers have identified nerve fibers in endometriotic lesions in women with endometriosis. mesenchymal stem cells (mscs) have attracted interest for their possible use for both cell and gene therapies because of their capacity for self-renewal...