ABSTRACT
Parathyroid hormone (PTH) is essential for maintaining calcium homeostasis [1-8]. It accomplishes this by regulating calcium mobilization from the skeleton, controlling calcium excretion in the kidney, and stimulating the kidneys to activate vitamin D. Hyperparathyroidism is a consequence of the excess production of PTH by the parathyroid glands. This can be caused by a benign or malignant tumor in the parathyroid gland(s), or stimulation of the parathyroid glands by vitamin D deciency, hypocalcemia, or hyperphosphatemia. The consequences of hyperparathyroidism include hypercalciuria, hypercalcemia, hypophosphatemia, osteopenia/osteoporosis, osteomalacia, and kidney stones [1-7]. The major causes of hyperparathyroidism are a benign adenoma in a parathyroid gland causing primary hyperparathyroidism, and vitamin D deciency and chronic kidney disease (CKD) causing secondary hyperparathyroidism [1-5].
