PEDIATRICS Vol. 66 No. 1 July 1980, pp. 77-82
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Pitkin, R. M.
Right arrow Articles by Hargis, G. K.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Pitkin, R. M.
Right arrow Articles by Hargis, G. K.

Fetal Calcitropic Hormones and Neonatal Calcium Homeostasis

Roy M. Pitkin MD1, Dwight P. Cruikshank MD1, Charles W. Schauberger MD1, W. Ann Reynolds PhD1, Gerald A. Williams MD1, and Gary K. Hargis MS1

1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, and Department of Anatomy and Medicine, University of Illinois at the Medical Center and West Side Veterans Medical Center, Chicago

Ionic calcium (Ca2+), total calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, albumin, immunoreactive parathyroid hormone (PTH), and immunoreactive calcitonin (CT) were measured in maternal and cord blood at term delivery of 96 women near term with predominantly normal pregnancies. Calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and albumin were measured in the infants at 24 hours of age. Umbilical Ca2+ levels exceeded maternal values significantly (2.82 ± 0.15 vs 2.23 ± 0.09 mEq/liter, P < .001), as did calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and albumin levels. The relative fetal hypercalcemia was associated with significantly higher CT levels in fetus than in mother (248 ± 68 vs 209 ± 54 pg/ml, P < .05) but PTH concentrations did not differ significantly between the two circulations. Within the fetal circulation, levels of each component did not differ except for PTH which was in higher concentration in venous than in arterial blood (5.50 ± 1.81 vs 4.93 ± 1.71 µl-eq/ml, P < .05). Stepwise multiple regression analysis, utilizing neonatal Ca level as the dependent variable, identified one clinical feature (duration of pregnancy) and six laboratory data as significant independent variables, accounting in sum for 35% of the variation in neonatal calcium level. The significant laboratory variables, in order of entry into the model, were maternal PTH, umbilical venous PTH, maternal phosphorus, umbilical venous magnesium, neonatal albumin, and neonatal magnesium. These results indicate that the normal fetus responds to hypercalcemia in late intrauterine life by increasing CT secretion but not by suppressing PTH output. The umbilical PTH level is one of several factors at birth which correlates significantly with calcium concentration at 24 hours of age.

Submitted on July 25, 1979
Accepted on October 9, 1979




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Am. J. Clin. Nutr.Home page
B. L Salle, E. E Delvin, A. Lapillonne, N. J Bishop, and F. H Glorieux
Perinatal metabolism of vitamin D
Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, May 1, 2000; 71(5): 1317S - 1324.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Endocr. Rev.Home page
C. S. Kovacs and H. M. Kronenberg
Maternal-Fetal Calcium and Bone Metabolism During Pregnancy, Puerperium, and Lactation
Endocr. Rev., December 1, 1997; 18(6): 832 - 872.
[Abstract] [Full Text]