Nitric oxide (NO) is a novel gaseous intercellular transmitter thought to play important physiological roles in the regulation of blood flow and hormone secretion in, for example, the pituitary, the thyroid, and the endocrine pancreas. Whether nitric oxide synthase (NOS) is present in the human parathyroid glands has not yet been demonstrated. In the present study, histologically normal, but funct

BACKGROUND: A significant number of patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) who are surgically treated have increased serum levels of intact parathyroid hormone (PTH) during long-term follow-up despite normocalcemia. The cause and significance of this finding remain to be established.METHODS: A total of 82 patients operated on for sporadic parathyroid adenoma were investigated before and

Side localization of parathyroid adenomas was performed by venous sampling for intact parathyroid hormone (PTH) in 20 consecutive patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) after induction of anesthesia. The results were thus available during surgery. Nineteen of the patients had solitary parathyroid adenoma, and one had hyperplasia. There was no complication to the procedure. A lateralizing

Amylin, also named islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP), is a protein that is processed and released from pancreatic beta-cells in parallel with insulin. Islet amyloid polypeptide is currently studied with regard to a role for insulin resistance in non-insulin-dependent diabetes. To elucidate a possible function of IAPP for impaired glucose tolerance in primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT), we studied p

There are only a few studies on the innervation of the human parathyroid glands and the content of neurotransmitters. We therefore studied the occurrence and distribution of peptide-containing and adrenergic nerve fibres and the coexistence pattern of neuromessengers by immunocytochemistry in normal (unaffected) and adenomatous parathyroid glands from patients undergoing surgery for parathyroid ad

In primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT), a preferential release of intact PTH (i-PTH) versus carboxylterminal PTH fragments is known to occur. We studied whether the release of amino-terminal PTH fragments (N-PTH) is also changed. Serum levels of i-PTH and N-PTH were determined under basal conditions and following oral intake of calcium in six patients with pHPT before and immediately after surgery

To study possible influences of a mild increase in serum-ionized calcium concentration that is seen during daily life on circulating parathyroid hormone (PTH) immunoheterogeneity, we used sequence-specific PTH assays to determine serum intact PTH, C-terminal PTH and N-terminal PTH following oral calcium (1.5 g) in healthy subjects (n = 7). This was also performed in patients with primary hyperpara

Circulating parathyroid hormone (PTH) immunoheterogeneity is altered in primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT). It is not known, however, whether the relative secretion of various PTH fragments differs between the adenomatous and the non-adenomatous glands in pHPT. We therefore examined the immunoheterogeneity of PTH in patients operated upon because of parathyroid adenoma pre- and 4 days postoperativ

BACKGROUND: The immediate postoperative function of the parathyroid glands after surgery for primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) has not been established. We therefore examined the influences of hypercalcemia and hypocalcemia on serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels in the immediate postoperative period in patients with pHPT.METHODS: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid was infused in patients on the f

The intraoperative differential diagnosis between adenoma and hyperplasia during surgery for primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) is sometimes difficult. Several methods have been proposed to aid the surgeon in deciding on the amount of parathyroid tissue to be resected. We examined the use of intraoperative monitoring of intact PTH in 47 patients operated upon for pHPT. The highly sensitive assay f

It has been suggested that calcium changes the set point of the pituitary thyroid feedback. It is not known, however, if small and slow changes of calcium and/or parathyroid hormone (PTH) within the physiological range influence the serum levels of thyrotropin (TSH) and thyroid hormones in healthy subjects or patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT). Nine healthy subjects and nine patients

Episodes of transient thyrotoxicosis after surgery for primary hyperparathyroidism have previously been described, and surgical trauma to the thyroid gland has been suggested as an etiologic factor. However, there are several links between the thyroid and parathyroid hormonal systems, and therefore other explanations are possible as well. In this study we investigate pre- and postoperative serum l

The ability of calcium to suppress the secretion of parathyroid hormone (PTH) is impaired in primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT). Whether the nonadenomatous glands in pHPT also exhibit altered calcium/PTH homeostasis is not known, but this may be the case since in the immediate postoperative period after surgery for pHPT, hypocalcemia often evolves in spite of a rapid normalization of serum levels

The secretion of intact parathyroid hormone (PTH) was investigated in 11 patients operated on for parathyroid adenoma at 1 year after surgery and compared with that of seven healthy individuals and five patients operated on because of clinical and biochemical signs of primary hyperparathyroidism with equivocal diagnosis after surgery. The investigation was performed by infusing Na2EDTA and CaCl2 a

BACKGROUND: Primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) is associated with a defective regulation of the secretion of parathyroid hormone (PTH). Thus in pHPT, higher than normal calcium concentrations are required to inhibit PTH release. However, it is not known if this defective regulation is normalized by removal of the parathyroid adenoma (i.e., whether the regulation of PTH secretion is normal in the r

The introduction of assays for the intact parathyrin (parathyroid hormone) has dramatically improved the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with primary hyperparathyroidism. However, in some patients with mild or intermittent hypercalcaemia, when plasma concentrations of intact parathyrin may be within the normal reference concentrations, the diagnosis of primary hyperparathyroidism may still be

It is not known whether thyroid surgery evokes changes in calcium metabolism. We therefore studied 6 patients operated upon with hemithyroidectomy for benign thyroid diseases, preoperatively and at 3 months and 1 year postoperatively. We measured changes in serum levels of intact parathyroid hormone (PTH), vitamin D metabolites, ionized calcium, phosphate, osteocalcin, thyroid hormones and bone de

Primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) is associated with a right-shifted relation between parathyroid hormone (PTH) secretion and calcium. However, it is also possible that a decreased suppressibility of PTH secretion by calcium is important for maintaining hypercalcemia in pHPT. We therefore compared the suppression of serum levels of intact PTH induced by a 1.5-gram oral calcium load in patients wi