| [ Summary ] |
It has recently been reported that PTH immunoreactivities, detected by second-generation PTH immunoradiometric assay, include PTH (7-84) in addition to intact PTH (1-84) molecules. It has also been found that PTH (7-84) acts in an antagonistic manner to PTH (1-84) in terms of its effects on calcium and phosphate metabolism. However, subsequent studies have failed to demonstrate any significant effect of PTH (7-84) in relation to physiological conditions, validating the PTH assays now being applied to routine clinical practice. Furthermore, PTH (1-84) -specific PTH assays have been introduced for clinical practice to help in the understanding of PTH reactions. |