Objective:
To measure lithium chloride—stimulated incorporation of tritiated thymidine (3H-TdR) and bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) by human parathyroid cells as an indicator of lithium's growth-promoting properties.
Design:
Cell suspensions derived from abnormal human parathyroid tissue were incubated for 5 days with graded concentrations of lithium and pulsed with either 0.074 MBq of 3H-TdR or 0.6 μg of BrdU. The 3H-TdR incorporation was measured by counting cell filtrates in a beta counter, and nuclear BrdU incorporation was determined by counting nuclei positively stained by an antibody to BrdU. Counts of BrdU-positive cells by two observers unaware of incubation conditions were correlated with 3H-TdR counts.
Results:
Cell suspensions derived from adenomatous and hyperplastic parathyroid glands demonstrated a dose-related increase in 3H-TdR incorporation. There was close correlation between the two observers' counts of BrdU-positive cells (r=0.70, P=.01) and between each observer's counts and 3H-TdR counts (r=0.70, P=.02, and r=0.90, P=.01, respectively).
Conclusions:
Lithium stimulates in vitro incorporation of 3H-TdR and BrdU by abnormal human parathyroid cells, consistent with a growth-promoting effect.(Arch Surg. 1993;128:865-869)