Parathyroid hormone-related protein is reduced in severe chronic heart failure.

In the cardiovascular system, parathyroid hormone-related peptide (PTHrP) is expressed in various cells such as cardiac vascular smooth muscle cells, coronary endothelial cells and cardiomyocytes and acts as an autocrine/paracrine substance. We compared PTHrP levels in 35 consecutive patients with severe CHF (33 male, mean age 66.2 +/- 8.