Int J Sports Med 1997; 18(8): 583-587
DOI: 10.1055/s-2007-972685
Physiology and Biochemistry

© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

Effect of Exercise and Exogenous Glucocorticoid on Serum Level of Intact Parathyroid Hormone

K. S. Tsai1 , J. C. Lin2 , C. K. Chen1 , W. C. Cheng1 , C. H. Yang3
  • 1Department of Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. Republic of China
  • 2Department of Physical Education, National Taiwan Normal University. Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China
  • 3Department of Physical Education, National Taipei Teachers College, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
09 March 2007 (online)

Most previous studies suggest that physical exercise, or physiological response to exercise such as Cortisol and adrenaline secretion regulate parathyroid hormone (PTH) secretion in humans. To investigate the effects and possible interaction of exercise and excessive glucocorticoid on PTH secretion, we examined the serum of levels of intact-PTH, Cortisol, adrenocorti-cotrophic hormone (ACTH), calcium, magnesium and phosphorus before and during one-hour of bicycle-ergometric exercise at 60 % of maximal oxygen uptake. These exercise tests were performed on eight Chinese male volunteers aged between 20 and 25 years, once with and once without (pretreat-ment with 0.5 mg of dexamethasone taken orally 9.5 hours in advance. The results showed that dexamethasone (pretreat-ment significantly lowered basal levels of Cortisol and ACTH, but intact PTH did not change. After 60 minutes of bicycling, intact PTH level increases by 50 % of baseline both with and without dexamethasone pretreatment. Serum levels of calcium, corrected for changes in serum albumin concentration, phosphorus and magnesium also increased in both cases. This study demonstrated an increase of intact-PTH with exercise which was not associated with hypocalcemia or hypomagnesemia, and was not altered in the presence of mild exogenous glucocorticoid excess and suppressed endogenous Cortisol secretion.

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