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DOI: 10.1055/s-2007-1012394
© Georg Thieme Verlag, Stuttgart · New York
Increased Potassium Permeability in Erythrocytes from Patients with Hyperparathyroidism
Publication History
1984
1985
Publication Date:
14 March 2008 (online)
![](https://www.thieme-connect.de/media/hmr/198609/lookinside/thumbnails/10.1055-s-2007-1012394-1.jpg)
Summary
Parathyroid hormone (PTH) has been shown to modify Ca2+ and Na+ transport in several epithelia. The molecular mechanisms of these effects are poorly understood. We investigated here whether PTH may modify Na+ and K+ transport across the human red blood cell membrane in vitro and ex vivo. Fourteen patients with severe primary or secondary hyperparathyroidism and hypercalcemia were studied before and 5-7 days after surgical parathyroidectomy. Erythrocyte ouabain-sensitive as well as furosemide-sensitive Na+ efflux rates of the patients were comparable to that of healthy volunteers and remained unchanged after parathyroidectomy. Moreover, erythrocyte Na+ fluxes of control subjects remained unchanged when red blood cells were incubated in the presence of 1.0 IU/ml of bovine PTH (1-85). However, erythrocytes from hyperparathyroid patients showed a significant increase in passive K+ permeability when compared to that of healthy controls (p < 0.05). This abnormality could be corrected in vivo after parathyroidectomy and in vitro using quinine, respectively. It is concluded that hyperparathyroidism induces a moderate increase in Ca2+ dependent K+ permeability of erythrocytes (“Gardos effect”) which is reversible after parathyroidectomy.
Key-Words
Erythrocytes - Na and K Transport - Parathyroid Hormone - Hyperparathyroidism