A B S T R A C T It has been demonstrated that parathyroid hormone (PTH) inhibits the proximal tubular reabsorption of bicarbonate, and increases the urinary excretion of that ion. There is also a qualitative similarity between the alterations of the proximal tubular reabsorption of phosphate, sodium, and water after PTH administration and after acetazolamide administration. These findings suggest that the renal effect of PTH is possibly mediated through the inhibition of carbonic anhydrase in proximal tubules. Therefore, a possible inhibitory effect of PTH on carbonic anhydrase was evaluated in the homogenate of rat renal cortex by an indicator titration method.Incubation of cortical homogenates with PTH for 10 min at 370C inhibited carbonic anhydrase activity. The inhibitory effect of PTH was ATP-, Mg"+-, and K+-dependent and temperature-dependent; inactivation of PTH by heating at 100'C abolished the effect of PTH both to activate adenylate cyclase and to inhibit carbonic anhydrase. Calcium 5 mM also partially abolished effects of PTH to activate adenylate cyclase and to inhibit carbonic anhydrase. The inhibitory effect of PTH on carbonic anhydrase was specific to renal cortex.Cyclic AMP, the intracellular messenger substance for PTH, also inhibited carbonic anhydrase in renal cortex. The cyclic AMP-induced inhibition was also Mg"+ dependent and temperature dependent, and required preincubation at 370C. But 5'-AMP, a metabolic derivative of cyclic AMP without its biological effect, had no inhibitory effect on carbonic anhydrase.All the above results are consistent with the hypothesis that PTH inhibits proximal tubular reabsorption of bicarbonate and phosphate through the inhibition of