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Research Article Free access | 10.1172/JCI108897

Immunoheterogeneity of Parathyroid Hormone in Venous Effluent Serum from Hyperfunctioning Parathyroid Glands

James A. Flueck, Francis P. Di Bella, Anthony J. Edis, Jean M. Kehrwald, and Claude D. Arnaud

Endocrine Research Unit and Mineral Research Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic and Mayo Medical School, Rochester, Minnesota 55901

Endocrine Research Unit and Mineral Research Laboratory, Department of Surgery, Mayo Clinic and Mayo Medical School, Rochester, Minnesota 55901

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Endocrine Research Unit and Mineral Research Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic and Mayo Medical School, Rochester, Minnesota 55901

Endocrine Research Unit and Mineral Research Laboratory, Department of Surgery, Mayo Clinic and Mayo Medical School, Rochester, Minnesota 55901

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Endocrine Research Unit and Mineral Research Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic and Mayo Medical School, Rochester, Minnesota 55901

Endocrine Research Unit and Mineral Research Laboratory, Department of Surgery, Mayo Clinic and Mayo Medical School, Rochester, Minnesota 55901

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Endocrine Research Unit and Mineral Research Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic and Mayo Medical School, Rochester, Minnesota 55901

Endocrine Research Unit and Mineral Research Laboratory, Department of Surgery, Mayo Clinic and Mayo Medical School, Rochester, Minnesota 55901

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Endocrine Research Unit and Mineral Research Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic and Mayo Medical School, Rochester, Minnesota 55901

Endocrine Research Unit and Mineral Research Laboratory, Department of Surgery, Mayo Clinic and Mayo Medical School, Rochester, Minnesota 55901

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Published December 1, 1977 - More info

Published in Volume 60, Issue 6 on December 1, 1977
J Clin Invest. 1977;60(6):1367–1375. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI108897.
© 1977 The American Society for Clinical Investigation
Published December 1, 1977 - Version history
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Abstract

The immunoreactive parathyroid hormone (iPTH) in the plasma of hyperparathyroid man consists largely of carboxyl (COOH)-terminal fragments of the hormone. Although these fragments have been thought to arise principally or solely from peripheral metabolism of intact human PTH {hPTH(1-84)} secreted from the parathyroid gland, there is disagreement about the source of iPTH fragments in vivo.

To reexamine this question, we fractionated peripheral and thyroid or parathyroid venous effluent sera from four patients with primary hyperparathyroidism using a high-resolution gel filtration system (Bio-Gel P-150 columns run by reverse flow). The column effluents were analyzed using two PTH radioimmunoassays, one directed toward the amino(NH2)-terminal region of the molecule, the other toward the COOH-terminal region.

In all four thyroid or parathyroid venous effluent sera studied, iPTH was 9-180 times higher than in peripheral serum from the same patient; after fractionation, hPTH(1-84) accounted for only a portion of the total iPTH (35-55% with the assay directed toward the COOH-terminal region of hPTH, >90% with the NH2-terminal directed assay.) The remaining iPTH eluted from Bio-Gel P-150 after hPTH(1-84) as NH2-or COOH-terminal hPTH fragments. These results suggest that parathyroid tumors secrete large quantities of hPTH fragments. Based on estimates of their molar concentrations in serum, tumor-secreted COOH-terminal hPTH fragments could account for most of these peptides in peripheral serum if their survival times were, as estimated by several other workers, 5-10 times that of hPTH(1-84).

We conclude that, in contrast to published information, secretory products of hyperfunctioning parathyroid tissue are probably a major source of serum PTH immunoheterogeneity.

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