Dopamine has been reported to transiently increase parathyroid hormone (PTH) secretion in man; however, the mechanism is unclear. To test the hypothesis that selective dopamine-1 receptor (DA1) stimulation increases PTH secretion, we compared the effects of fenoldopam, a novel selective DA1 receptor agonist, as well as dopamine on serum PTH secretion and total serum calcium concentration in seven normal human subjects. Dopamine was infused at 1 and 3 micrograms/kg/min, each for 10 minutes, and 5 micrograms/kg/min for 25 min. Fenoldopam was infused at 0.1 and 0.3 micrograms/kg/min, each for 10 min. and thereafter at 0.5 micrograms/kg/min for 25 min. The infusions were given at least 1 week apart. Blood samples for PTH, calcium and dopamine or fenoldopam concentrations were drawn prior to and at the 25th minute of each drug infusion. PTH concentrations increased in all subjects at the 25th minute of dopamine but not fenoldopam infusion. Serum calcium was not significantly affected. The plasma concentrations of both dopamine (83.6 +/- 7.1 ng/ml) and fenoldopam (13.0 +/- 3.4 ng/ml) were in the range known to cause equivalent DA1 receptor stimulation. Since dopamine but not fenoldopam increased PTH secretion in man, we conclude that selective DA1 receptor stimulation alone does not increase PTH release and the effects of dopamine must be mediated through some other mechanism.