L8 Parathyroid and calcium regulation Flashcards
What are the cells in parathyroid glands actively releasing parathyroid hormones?
- Chief cells
What is the function of parathyroid glands?
- to regulate calcium level in blood at a very narrow range
How are chief cells regulated?
- regulated by serum calcium and vitamin D
- parathyroid hormones are secreted in response to hypocalcaemia
- it can be continuously secreted
- secretion requires Mg ions in blood
What is parathyroid hormone?
- it is a made as 110 AA precursor and being processed in ER to 84 AA precursor
- removal of single NH2 terminal AA reoves 90% of bioactivity (its activity is based on number of NH2 terminals)
- serum half life is 20 mins
- rapidly inactivated in liver and kidney
- normal range= 10-60 pg/ml
What are the functions of parathyroid hormones?
- parathyroid glands monitor calcium level in blood (chief cells have sensors)
- when blood calcium level is low, the parathyroid glands make more PTH
- increased in PTH causes the body to put more calcium into blood
- PTH acts as negative feedback to reduce level of calcium in blood
- release of calcium in blood is by bone erosion and absorption of blood calcium is done by kidneys
What are the roles of calcium? (7)
1) exocytosis at synaptic transmission & hormone release
2) bone formation & maintenance
3) muscle contraction, including cardiac muscles
4) primary role in blood coagulation (cofactor in conversion of prothrombin to thrombin)
5) enzyme regulation
6) contributes to electrical properties of membrane
7) reduction in ionised calcium increases NA permeability & enhances excitability of excitable tissues
Where are the main source of calcium come from?
- 99%= skeletal (from hydroxyapatite); 1%= extracelluar ; 0.1%= intracellular
What are the 2 states of calcium found in blood?
- ionised (50%) and bound (50%)
- 35-40% is bound by plasma protein and 10-15% is bound by complexed with anions
What do calcium ions bind to in serum?
- binds to carboxyl groups of albumin and the binding is highly pH dependent as calcium competes with H+
- acute acidosis (more H+ in blood= competes with Ca for albumin) decreases binding and increases ionised calcium ( does not alter the total level of calcium so has to measure the ionised calcium level to see this effect)
- acute alkalosis occurs when there is an increase in protein binding to calcium
What would happen if it is hypocalcaemia?
- increases membrane permeability to NA+, resulting in hyperactivity of axons
- tetany
What would happen if hypercalcaemia occurs?
- high level of calcium causes a decrease membrane permeability to Na+ so axons become more difficult to depolarise
- calcium can deposit in soft tissues = painful and can lead to failure
What is the normal serum calcium range?
- 2.2-2.6 mmol/L
- for non-pregnant adults, there should be no daily gain/loss of calcium, magnesium or phosphate = zero calcium balance
What is the calcium level in ECF and ICF?
- ECF contains 10 to the power of -3 M; ICF contains 10 to the power of -6M of calcium
- 90 -99% calcium found in mitochondria bound to phosphate
How is low cytosol calcium level (in ICF) achieved?
- it is being maintained by 3 pump transport systems: in plasma membrane, in inner mitochondrial membrane and in microsomal membranes (eg sarcoplasmic reticulum)
- calcium diffuses across these 3 membranes into cytosol
What individuals would have a mineral homeostasis in positive balance?
- growing child