Inclusion of salmon calcitonin in the culture medium of rat ventral prostate explants diminished l-tartarate-sensitive acid phosphatase activity in the tissues with a concomitant increment of the enzyme activity in the medium. The effect of the hormone was dose-dependent for a dose range of 10(-12)-10(-6) M. Acid phosphatase activity in prostate explants decreased from 38.6 +/- 3.5 to 20.5 +/- 2.8, whereas it increased from 0.60 +/- 0.15 to 2.80 +/- 0.40 nmol p-nitrophenol liberated/mg protein/30 min in the culture medium. Tissues exposed to 10(-6) M salmon calcitonin had higher acetylcholinesterase activity (8.8 +/- 0.7) than non-exposed ones (6.2 +/- 0.5 mumol substrate hydrolyzed/g tissue/min). These results suggest that locally produced calcitonin causes a release for prostatic acid phosphatase from prostate tissues possibly through its interaction with the cholinergic system.