RT Journal
T1 PArathyroid activity and the kidney
JF Journal of the American Medical Association
JO Journal of the American Medical Association
YR 1949
FD July 2
VO 140
IS 9
SP 785
OP 786
DO 10.1001/jama.1949.02900440027013
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.1949.02900440027013
AB The relation of the activity of the parathyroid gland to calcium metabolism has been demonstrated repeatedly in the laboratory. Clinically, the syndrome known as osteitis fibrosa cystica and the latent and manifest tetany following the removal of too large a proportion of the gland are recognized as hyperparathyroidism and hypoparathyroidism, respectively. Clear as this relationship is, the precise mechanism whereby the hormone exerts its influence on mineral metabolism has not been elucidated. One view1 considers that the change in blood calcium after the injection of parathyroid extract represents an adjustment due to alteration of phosphate concentration; another theory2 relates the action of the hormone directly to the removal of calcium from the bones with the consequent elevation of this element in the plasma.Any final explanation of the effect of the parathyroids on calcium and phosphorus metabolism might involve the control of blood levels by the kidney through