Vitamin D helps the body use calcium and phosphorus in bones, nerves, and muscles. However, vitamin D must be activated in the kidney before it can work in the body. One of the factors which helps the kidney to activate vitamin D is parathyroid hormone. This grant will study the details of how parathyroid hormone stimulates the kidney to activate vitamin D. To study this, we will use rats, slices of rat kidney, and cells taken from the rat kidney and grown outside the rat. These studies may help to treat people who have diabetes and people who are elderly. In these people, parathyroid hormone may not stimulate the kidney to activate vitamin D, and lack of activated vitamin D may contribute to bone disease.
