Implications of regulator of G-protein signaling 5 expression in the pathogenesis of primary and secondary hyperparathyroidism

OBJECTIVE: To study the protein and mRNA expressions of regulator of G-protein signaling 5 (RGS5) in the pathogenesis of hyperparathyroidism. METHODS: The expression of RGS5 protein in 20 primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT), 31 secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT), and 20 control cases were studied by immunohistochemistry (IHC). The expression of RGS5 mRNA in 15 PHPT, 102 SHPT, and 7 normal parathyroid tissue were measured by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) method. RESULTS: The expressions of RGS5 in PHPT tissues were significantly higher than that in SHPT and normal parathyroid tissues (P < 0.05). While the differences in RGS5 protein expressions between SHPT and respective control samples were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Likewise, the RGS5 mRNA expression in PHPT was significantly higher than that in SHPT (P < 0.05) and normal parathyroid (P < 0.05) samples. In a similar line, the differences in RGS5 gene expressions between SHPT and control tissues were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The characteristic RGS5 protein and mRNA levels in hyperparathyroidism might be helpful in discovering the pathomechanism of hyperparathyroidism and novel therapeutic targets as well.