BIOCHEMICAL MARKERS IN THE ASSESSMENT OF BONE-DISEASE

As the mean age of our population increases, increasing attention has been paid to the diseases associated with aging, including diseases of the skeleton such as osteoporosis. Effective means of treating and po ssibly preventing such skeletal disorders are emerging, making their e arly recognition an important goal for the primary care physician. Alt hough bone density measurements and skeletal imaging studies remain of primary diagnostic importance in this regard, a large number of assay s for biochemical markers of bone formation and resorption are being d eveloped that promise to complement the densitometry measurements and imaging studies, providing an assessment of the rates of bone turnover and an earlier evaluation of the effects of therapy. In this review, emphasizing the recent literature, the major biochemical markers curre ntly in use or under active investigation are described, and their app lication in a number of diseases of the skeleton including osteoporosi s is evaluated. (C) 1997 by Excerpta Medica, Inc.