[Bone alkaline phosphatase: characteristic and its clinical applications]

Bone alkaline phosphatase (BALP) is one of the most frequently used biochemical markers of bone formation. The presented paper describes the enzyme's specificity, physiological values during normal growth and development as well as its clinical applications in various diseases. The main interest concerns the ability of BALP to predict bone loss in primary (postmenopausal and senile osteoporosis) and secondary osteoporosis associated with metabolic diseases (galactosemia, cystic fibrosis, celiac disease), renal osteodystrophy, Paget disease and others. The determination of BALP activity seems to be also helpful in diagnosis of the diseases and in monitoring of antiresorptive therapy. Further studies on BALP are needed to elucidate whether this bone formation marker reflect the therapy outcome of individual patients with primary osseus tumours and metastases.