Calcitonin is a hormone which is released by the thyroid and parathyroid glands when the levels of calcium compounds in the blood are too high. The hormone acts to reduce the levels of calcium and phosphate circulating in the bloodstream. It is related to (but distinct from) the hormone thyroxine.

A calcitonin molecule is a small peptide composed of thirty-two amino acids.


Some of the information in this writeup was taken from the science dictionary at http://biotech.icmb.utexas.edu/; I oversaw the development of the dictionary (the website was mothballed in 1998) and believe I wrote the entry this writeup is partly or wholly based upon.

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