Laminitis is a disease that affects the feet of ungulates and is found mostly in horses and cattle. Clinical signs include foot tenderness progressing to inability to walk, increased digital pulses, and increased temperature in the hooves. Severe cases with outwardly visible clinical signs are known by the colloquial term founder, and progression of the disease will lead to perforation of the coffin bone through the sole of the hoof or being unable to stand up, requiring euthanasia. Laminae
The bones of the hoof are suspended within the axial hooves of ungulates by layers of modified skin cells, known as laminae or lamellae, which act as shock absorbers during locomotion. In horses, there are about 550–600 pairs of primary epidermal laminae, each with 150–200 secondary laminae projection from their surface. These interdigitate with equivalent structures on the surface of the coffin bone (PIII, P3, the third phalanx, pedal bone, or distal phalanx), known as dermal laminae. The secondary laminae contain basal cells which attach via hemidesmosomes to the basement membrane. The basement membrane is then attached to the coffin bone via the connective tissue of the dermis. Pathophysiology
Laminitis literally means inflammation of the laminae, and while it remains controversial whether this is the primary mechanism of disease, evidence of inflammation occurs very early in some instances of the disease. A severe inflammatory event is thought to damage the basal epithelial cells, resulting in dysfunction of the hemidesmosomes and subsequent reduction in adherence between the epithelial cells and the basement membrane.
Symptoms include lethargy, fatigue, depression, memory loss, psychosis, ataxia, delirium, and coma.Left ventricular hypertrophy may also be seen.Other signs include proximal muscle weakness, itching, and band keratopathy of the eyes.When subjected to formal research, symptoms of depression, pain, and gastric dysfunction seem to correlate with mild cases of hypercalcemia. Causes
The most common cause of primary hyperparathyroidism is a sporadic, single parathyroid adenoma resulting from a clonal mutation (~97%). Less common are parathyroid hyperplasia (~2.5%), parathyroid carcinoma (malignant tumor), and adenomas in more than one gland (together ~0.5%).Primary hyperparathyroidism is also a feature of several familial endocrine disorders:  Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 and type 2A (MEN type 1 and MEN type 2A), and familial hyperparathyroidism.Genetic associations include:

In all cases, the disease is idiopathic, but is thought to involve inactivation of tumor suppressor genes (Menin gene in MEN1), or involve gain of function mutations (RET proto-oncogene MEN 2a).Recently, it was demonstrated that liquidators of the Chernobyl power plant are faced with a substantial risk of primary hyperparathyroidism, possibly caused by radioactive strontium isotopes. Diagnosis
The diagnosis of primary hyperparathyroidism is made by blood tests.Serum calcium levels are usually elevated, and the parathyroid hormone level is abnormally high compared with an expected low level in response to the high calcium. A relatively elevated parathyroid hormone has been estimated to have a sensitivity of 60–80% and a specificity of approximately 90% for primary hyperparathyroidism.A more powerful variant of comparing the balance between calcium and parathyroid hormone is to perform a 3-hour calcium infusion.