[Phosphate sensing and parathyroid gland]

In the latter 1990s, phosphate, as well as calcium, has been shown to have a direct action on parathyroid function. Since then although many researchers have tried to detect the phosphate sensor in parathyroid gland, none has found it yet. In 2000s, the importance of FGF23 was revealed in patients with autosomal dominant hypophosphatemic rickets and then investigating the role of FGF23 in mineral metabolism has spread. FGF23 target organs comprise those that express coreceptor Klotho, such as kidney and parathyroid glands. While associations of calcium sensing receptor or vitamin D receptor with parathyroid function have been mainly investigated for parathyroid dysfunction, many efforts recently have made to study the effects of FGF23 on parathyroid glands.