14 - Hormones of Ca Metabolism Flashcards
Describe the process of “making bone”
Calcium is the reason we can build a skeleton and stand upright
- The reason is that calcium forms insoluble salts
- Calcium chloride + sodium phosphate = crystalization
What happens when calcium phosphate crystals form in the joints?
There are times when there are calcium phosphate crystals in the joints –> called pseudo gout (real gout is uric acid crystals)
- This is an indication that serum calcium is too high
What is the role of calcium?
- Required for enzyme activities, both directly and indirectly
- Directly (citric acid cycle, glycogen degradation)
- Indirectly (calmodulin***)
- Mediates hormone responses as second messenger
- Essential for blood coagulation
- Essential for muscle contraction
- Required for stability of bone (mineralization, hydroxylapatite)
Describe the goal of the regulatory processes involving calcium
All the regulatory processes will be about keeping the extracellular calcium concentration fluid constant ***
How much of serum calcium is free? How much is bound?
In serum, about 50% of Ca2+ is free and 50% bound to proteins or small molecules.
Describe the difference between free and bound calcium
- In serum, only 50% of calcium is free calcium, meanign it is active calcium for signaling
- If it is bound to albumin, it is not active
- If someone has normal serum calcium, but are showing signs of hypercalcemia, look at the albumin… If albumin is high there may be a lot of calcium bound to albumin in that case
Describe the regulation of calcium and phosphate together
Calcium and phosphate are regulated inversely
- Mobilization of bone calcium (to increase serum Ca2+) is accompanied by increase in phosphate excretion in the urine
- High phosphate intake (soda) leads to increased Ca2+ excretion –> not good
What are the hormones of calcium metabolism?
- Calcitriol
- Parathyroid hormone
- Calcitonin
Describe the function of calcitriol
Calcitriol (1,25(OH)2D3) stimulates Ca2+ uptake in the gut
Describe the function of parathyroid hormone (PTH)
- Parathyroid hormone (PTH) stimulates resorption of bone Ca2+ into the serum.
- PTH also stimulates synthesis of calcitriol in the kidney
- Parathyroid hormone stimulates the resorption of calcium from bone into the serum
Both of these (calcitriol and PTH) try to increase the concentration of calcium in the serum
Describe the function of calcitonin
Calcitonin (CT) stimulates Ca2+ excretion by the kidney
What typically causes increased levels of calcium
A disease process
What is calcistat?
- The regulatory circuits tasked with keeping the serum calcium level constant are designated as the calcistat
- Keeps the calcium concentration steady
- The “main players” are the gut, bone and kidney
What is the most important “player” in teh calcistat?
Kindey because it has two roles
- Kidney needs to synthesize 1,25-OH2D3 and resorb calcium from the urine
- Kidney disease will impair the ability to absorb calcium from gut (carcitriol) and leads to a lot of loss of Ca in urine
What do we do to increase serum calcium?
3 ways
- diet
- bone
- kidney
Describe the sequence of events that occur when there is low serum calcium
- First thing that happens in low calcium is an increase in PTH
- Stimulates synthesis of calcitriol, suppresses secretion of Calcium and increases resorption from bone
- Calcium sensors are located in the parathyroid and is stimulated by low calcium
- If calcium concentration is too high, much less is going on… PTH is low
What is the active form of vitamin D? Inactive form?
1,25(OH)2D3 = active
24,25(OH)2D3 = inactive
24, 25 version is not active, so it is not helping to retain a lot of calcium from the gut
Describe the state of high serum calcium
- If calcium is high, calcitonin should be low