Parathyroid hormone- and deoxycorticosterone acetate-induced hypertension in the rat.

1. Hypertension induced by treatment with deoxycorticosterone acetate and sodium chloride was studied in male Sprague-Dawley rats and related to parathyroid hormone secretion. 2. Lack of parathyroid hormone (due to parathyroidectomy) or decreased parathormone secretion (due to a high-calcium diet) partially inhibited the development of arterial hypertension. 3. In contrast, in thyroparathyroidectomized rats supplemented with thyroxine, the administration of parathyroid hormone rapidly elevated arterial blood pressure. 4. Maintaining a physiological concentration of serum calcium in the absence of parathyroid hormone (by feeding a high-calcium diet to parathyroidectomized rats) was not sufficient to establish mineralocorticoid hypertension. 5. These results show that parathyroid hormone is necessary for the complete development of mineralocorticoid hypertension.