The parathyroid glands in experimentally induced hypergastrinemia in the rat.

The morphology of the parathyroids in rats with hypergastrinemia, induced by antral exclusion, was compared with that of glands from untreated rats and animals from which the main source of gastrin- 17 was excluded (antral resection). Fourteen weeks after induction of hypergastrinemia the volume of the parathyroids was significantly increased owing to hyperplasia of the parenchymal cells. Removal of the antral gastrin-producing capacity of the same duration was not accompanied by any significant changes in the parathyroids. These findings suggest that hypergastrinemia could be a stimulus for the development of hyperplasia of the parathyroids, and that it may be an etiological factor in the production of hyperparathyroidism.