Histomorphometric study of the parathyroid glands of the spontaneously hypercholesterolemic (SHC) rats with chronic renal failure.

Light and electron microscopic morphometry was performed on the parathyroid (PT) glands of the SHC rats with naturally occurring chronic renal failure. Macroscopically, the PT glands were distinctively hypertrophied in 24-week-old male SHC rats when compared with the corresponding controls, Sprague Dawley (SD) rats. Light microscopic morphometry on consecutive sections of the PT glands showed that the volume was about 3 times greater in the SHC rats, whereas there was no difference in the size of the chief cells. Mitoses were often found in the PT glands of the SHC rats. The total number of mitoses was about 8.5 times greater in the SHC rats, and was closely related to the volume of the PT glands. Ultrastructural morphometry of the chief cells revealed an increase in the cell surface area by the interdigitation of the plasma membrane and increases in the volume of mitochondria and Golgi complex. Secretory granules sometimes existed close to the cell surface in the SHC rats, but not in the SD rats. These results suggest that the PT glands of the SHC rats are hyperplastic mainly because of the proliferation of the chief cells. Concurrently, an increase in volume of the cell organelles suggests enhanced secretion activity in the chief cells.