Intact parathyroid hormone (1-84) in primary hypertension

Intact parathyroid hormone (1-84) (PTH) concentrations were measured in serum of 83 hypertensive and 83 normotensive subjects, aged 20 to 69 years, matched for age and gender, and selected from the same open population. No significant differences in serum intact-PTH levels were found between the total group nor between groups based on three age strata. However, PTH was negatively associated with body weight and after adjustment for differences in body weight, significantly higher intact-PTH levels were found in hypertensive than in normotensive subjects, aged 20-39 years, but not in those aged 40 to 69 years. Our findings suggest that body weight is a confounding variable when comparing differences in intact-PTH between groups. Intact-PTH levels may be increased in a subgroup of young primary hypertensive subjects.