The evolution of assays for parathyroid hormone

Recent progress in the assay of parathyroid hormone has revealed that comme rcially available assays for intact parathyroid hormone also measure additi onal parathyroid hormone peptides that appear to be truncated at the amino- terminal region and have the elution position on highperformance liquid chr omatography of parathyroid hormone 7-84. Specific assays have been develope d that measure only the true or 'whole', 84-amino-acid peptide. Such 'whole ' parathyroid hormone assays have led to the discovery of new findings that suggest that parathyroid hormone fragments such as parathyroid hormone 7-8 4, which have hitherto been considered to be biologically inactive, may act ually have biologic effects. These data, coupled with the emerging discover y of additional receptors for parathyroid hormone peptides, suggest that pa rathyroid hormone fragments might have potentially important actions, at le ast in the setting of renal failure. Curr Opin Nephrol Hypertens 10:569-574 . (C) 2001 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.