[Evaluation of calcium metabolism and pituitary gonadotropin secretion during treatment with nifedipine]

The clinical use of calcium antagonist drugs in cardiology theoretically may interfere with the endocrine secretions. Actually the calcium ion appears to be primarily involved in the stimulus-secretion and excitation-contraction coupling. This paper is to evaluate the influence, in vivo, of nifedipine on calcium metabolism, FSH and LH secretions. The level of plasmatic calcium, parathyroid hormone (PTH), and FSH, LH secretion were observed in seven patients under cronic nifedipine treatment. The plasmic level of the hormones under investigation was tested with radioimmunoassay method. Neither calcium nor hormone levels had significant variations during the 28 days control period. From our data we can infer that long term treatment with nifedipine has no influence on calcium metabolism nor on gonadotropic hormones secretions, even though such an influence has been demonstrated in 'in vivo' studies.