title: Effects of vitamin D3 injection on activity of thyroid parafollicular cells in pregnant rats.
abstract: Effects of vitamin D3 (VD3) injection on the activity of thyroid parafollicular cells (C cells) and calcium (Ca) metabolism were examined in rats of non-(NP), middle (MP) and late pregnancy (LP). At 3 days after injection, the average area of a C cell was significantly wider (P<0.01) in the VD3 groups than that in their control groups in NP, MP, and LP. On the otherhand, the plasma ca concentration in the VD3 groups decreased significantly (P<0.05) in comparison with that in their control groups in NP and LP, and tended to decrease in MP. These results suggest that injection of VD3 may accelerate the activity of C cells, which may result in the decrease of plasma Ca concentration in both non-pregnant and pregnant rats.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Internal Medicine, Faculty of Agriculture, Iwate University, Japan.
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Won
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Taniguchi
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Naito
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D002762:Cholecalciferol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D010281:Parathyroid Hormone / Q000097:blood; D010710:Phosphates / Q000097:blood; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012016:Reference Values; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D010281:Parathyroid Hormone; D010710:Phosphates; D002762:Cholecalciferol; D002118:Calcium