The electrophysiological properties of the parathyroid cell: results of a study employing Sprague-Dawley rats and a review of the literature
Green, S.T.
Biomedicine and PharmacoTherapy 42(1): 61-64
1988
ISSN/ISBN: 0753-3322 PMID: 3044457 Document Number: 311498
The present work indicates that the parathyroid cell of the Sprague-Dawley rat has a resting transmembrane potential of -30.5 +/- 4.1 mV. In a review of data obtained by earlier studies using other species, it was clear that in general the parathyroid cell transmembrane potential lies between -20 mV and -45 mV, that the transmembrane K+ concentration gradient is the principal factor in determining the magnitude of the membrane potential in the resting state, and that in most species a reduction in the extracellular Ca++ leads to cellular hyperpolarization. Detailed data on cellular input resistance in intact parathyroid tissue is not as yet available; however, indirect evidence exists that direct communication of the type described between other gland cells is present between parathyroid cells, a phenomenon which allows the passage of current to flow between adjacent cells via specialised connecting structures such as gap junctions.