To assess the effect of hypoparathyroidism on osteogenesis and bone turnover in vivo, bone marrow ablation (BMXs) were performed in tibias of 8-week-old wild-type and parathyroid hormone-null (PTH À/À ) mice and newly formed bone tissue was analyzed from 5 days to 3 weeks after BMX. At 1 week after BMX, trabecular bone volume, osteoblast numbers, alkaline phosphatase-positive areas, type I collagen-positive areas, PTH receptor-positive areas, calcium sensing receptor-positive areas, and expression of bone formation-related genes were all decreased significantly in the diaphyseal regions of bones of PTH À/À mice compared to wild-type mice. In contrast, by 2 weeks after BMX, all parameters related to osteoblastic bone accrual were increased significantly in PTH À/À mice. At 5 days after BMX, active tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP)-positive osteoclasts had appeared in wild-type mice but were undetectable in PTH À/À mice, Both the ratio of mRNA levels of receptor activator of NF-kB ligand (RANKL)/osteoprotegerin (OPG) and TRAP-positive osteoclast surface were still reduced in PTH À/À mice at 1 week but were increased by 2 weeks after BMX. The expression levels of parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) at both mRNA and protein levels were upregulated significantly at 1 week and more dramatically at 2 weeks after BMX in PTH À/À mice. To determine whether the increased newly formed bones in PTH À/À mice at 2 weeks after BMX resulted from the compensatory action of PTHrP, PTH À/À PTHrP þ/À mice were generated and newly formed bone tissue was compared in these mice with PTH À/À and wild-type mice at 2 weeks after BMX. All parameters related to osteoblastic bone formation and osteoclastic bone resorption were reduced significantly in PTH À/À PTHrP þ/À mice compared to PTH À/À mice. These results demonstrate that PTH deficiency itself impairs osteogenesis, osteoclastogenesis, and osteoclastic bone resorption, whereas subsequent upregulation of PTHrP in osteogenic cells compensates by increasing bone accrual.