Skip to main content
NCBI home page
The Journal of Clinical Investigation logoLink to The Journal of Clinical Investigation
. 1968 Jan;47(1):118–126. doi: 10.1172/JCI105702

The influence of the parathyroid glands on the hypercalcemia of experimental magnesium depletion in the rat

H J Gitelman 1, S Kukolj 1, L G Welt 1
PMCID: PMC297153  PMID: 16695934

Abstract

Magnesium-deficient rats develop significant hypercalcemia, hypophosphatemia, and hyperphosphaturia. These changes suggest a state of hyperparathyroidism. This study examines the regulation of parathyroid gland activity in magnesium-deficient rats. Magnesium deficiency was induced in intact and chronically parathyroidectomized animals by feeding them a diet free of this cation. Control animals were pair fed and treated identically except for the inclusion of magnesium in their gavage solution.

Magnesium-deficient rats with intact parathyroid glands developed significant hypercalcemia and hypophosphatemia. In addition, the concentration of ionic calcium in plasma was significantly elevated. In contrast, magnesium-deficient parathyroidectomized animals did not have a higher level of calcium in plasma than their nondeficient controls; they developed a decreased concentration of ionic calcium in the absence of a difference in the concentration of phosphate in plasma when compared with appropriate controls. The increased urinary excretion of phosphate was independent of the parathyriod status of the animals.

It can be concluded that the hypercalcemia and hypophosphatemia of magnesium deficiency demands parathyroid gland activity and that the regulation of this activity is modified in the magnesium-deficient state to permit the maintenance of an elevated concentration of ionic calcium in plasma. Additional explanations must be found for the hyperphosphaturia.

Full text

PDF
118

Images in this article

120Image
on p.120

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. ALCOCK N., MACINTYRE I. SOME EFFECTS OF MAGNESIUM REPLETION ON CALCIUM METABOLISM IN THE RAT. Clin Sci. 1964 Apr;26:219–225. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. COTLOVE E., TRANTHAM H. V., BOWMAN R. L. An instrument and method for automatic, rapid, accurate, and sensitive titration of chloride in biologic samples. J Lab Clin Med. 1958 Mar;51(3):461–468. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Care A. D., Sherwood L. M., Potts J. T., Jr, Aurbach G. D. Perfusion of the isolated parathyroid gland of the goat and sheep. Nature. 1966 Jan 1;209(5018):55–57. doi: 10.1038/209055a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. DURLACH J., STOLIAROFF M., GAUDUCHON J., LELUC R., THUONG CONG TRIEU [Study on the relation between the parathyroids and magnesium metabolism]. Ann Endocrinol (Paris) 1960 May-Jun;21:235–243. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Ginn H. E., Shanbour L. L. Phosphaturia in magnesium-deficient rats. Am J Physiol. 1967 Jun;212(6):1347–1350. doi: 10.1152/ajplegacy.1967.212.6.1347. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. HEATON F. W. THE PARATHYROID GLANDS AND MAGNESIUM METABOLISM IN THE RAT. Clin Sci. 1965 Jun;28:543–553. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. MACINTYRE I., DAVIDSSON D. The production of secondary potassium depletion, sodium retention, nephrocalcinosis and hypercalcaemia by magnesium deficiency. Biochem J. 1958 Nov;70(3):456–462. doi: 10.1042/bj0700456. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. MARSH W. H., FINGERHUT B., KIRSCH E. Determination of urea nitrogen with the diacetyl method and an automatic dialyzing apparatus. Am J Clin Pathol. 1957 Dec;28(6):681–688. doi: 10.1093/ajcp/28.6_ts.681. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Oliver J., MacDowell M., Whang R., Welt L. G. The renal lesions of electrolyte imbalance. IV. The intranephronic calculosis of experimental magnesium depletion. J Exp Med. 1966 Aug 1;124(2):263–278. doi: 10.1084/jem.124.2.263. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. PAYNE J. M., CHAMINGS J. THE EFFECT OF THYRO-PARATHYROIDECTOMY IN THE GOAT WITH PARTICULAR RESPECT TO CLINICAL EFFECTS AND CHANGES IN THE CONCENTRATIONS OF PLASMA CALCIUM, INORGANIC PHOSPHORUS AND MAGNESIUM. J Endocrinol. 1964 Apr;29:19–28. doi: 10.1677/joe.0.0290019. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. ROBERTS B., MURPHY J. J., MILLER L., ROSENTHAL O. The effect of parathyroid hormone upon serum levels and urinary excretion of magnesium. Surg Forum. 1955;5:509–514. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Soffer L. J., Cohn C., Grossman E. B., Jacobs M., Sobotka H. MAGNESIUM PARTITION STUDIES IN GRAVES' DISEASE AND IN CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL HYPOTHYROIDISM. J Clin Invest. 1941 Jul;20(4):429–432. doi: 10.1172/JCI101238. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. WALSER M. Ion association. VI. Interactions between calcium, magnesium, inorganic phosphate, citrate and protein in normal human plasma. J Clin Invest. 1961 Apr;40:723–730. doi: 10.1172/JCI104306. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. WHANG R., WELT L. G. Observations in experimental magnesium depletion. J Clin Invest. 1963 Mar;42:305–313. doi: 10.1172/JCI104717. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Clinical Investigation are provided here courtesy of American Society for Clinical Investigation

RESOURCES