title: Low calcium diet in dogs causes a greater increase in parathyroid function measured with an intact hormone than with a carboxylterminal assay.
abstract: The influence of low calcium diets (0.08%) with or without a deficiency in vitamin D (D) on the parathyroid function was studied in two groups of six dogs. The animals were first studied on a normal diet and then again after 3 weeks of the experimental diet. Blood tests, urine tests and a functional evaluation of the parathyroid glands via i.v. infusions of CaCl2 and NaEDTA were performed on both occasions. PTH was measured with an intact hormone assay (I) and with a carboxylterminal assay (C). Since similar results were observed on the D deficient and D normal diets at 3 weeks, data were combined for final analysis. We observed an increase in fasting serum PTH (I, 3.2 +/- 2.0 vs. 4.3 +/- 3.3 pmol/l, P less than 0.05; C, 23.4 +/- 13.9 vs. 30.7 +/- 15.5 pmol/l, P less than 0.005) and in stimulated serum PTH (I, 11.7 +/- 2.7 vs. 18.3 +/- 4.5 pmol/l, P less than 0.0005; C, 67.7 +/- 22 vs. 90.4 +/- 31.1 pmol/l, P less than 0.0005) after 3 weeks of a low calcium diet. Fasting ionized calcium concentrations (1.36 +/- 0.03 vs. 1.36 +/- 0.02 mmol/l), 25(OH)D concentrations (94.8 +/- 28 vs. 86.7 +/- 23.1 nmol/l) and 1,25(OH)2D concentrations (101.1 +/- 19.3 vs. 110.9 +/- 27.6 pmol/l) did not change. The increase in parathyroid function measured with I (60.4 +/- 39%) was greater than that measured with C (33.7 +/- 14.2%, P less than 0.05) and the ratio of maximum carboxylterminal PTH to maximum intact PTH decreased from 5.98 +/- 2.17 to 4.95 +/- 1.21 (P less than 0.05) at 3 weeks. These results suggest that reduced catabolism of intact PTH was involved in the increased parathyroid function. The stimulus responsible for the increased parathyroid function remains to be identified.
authors.affiliation: Centre de recherche clinique André-Viallet, Hôpital Saint-Luc, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cloutier
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: D'Amour
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gascon-Barré
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hamel
mesh_terms: D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase / Q000097:blood; D000818:Animals; D002112:Calcifediol / Q000097:blood; D002117:Calcitriol / Q000097:blood; D002118:Calcium / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D002122:Calcium Chloride / Q000494:pharmacology; D004032:Diet; D004285:Dogs; D004492:Edetic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D006909:Hydroxyproline / Q000652:urine; D010280:Parathyroid Glands / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D010281:Parathyroid Hormone / Q000097:blood*; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000097:blood*; D010710:Phosphates / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine
chemical_list: D010281:Parathyroid Hormone; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D010710:Phosphates; D004492:Edetic Acid; D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase; D002117:Calcitriol; D002122:Calcium Chloride; D002112:Calcifediol; D006909:Hydroxyproline; D002118:Calcium