Comparison of parathyroid hormone assays with bone histomorphometry in renal osteodystrophy

Bone biopsies were studied in 67 dialysis patients to determine if a PTH RIA specific for intact plasma PTH is a better predictor of osteitis fibrosa than a RIA that measures inactive carboxy-terminal/midregion plasma PTH fragments. An amino-terminal-specific antiserum that cross-reacts with intact PTH, but not midregion or carboxy-terminal fragments, and an antiserum that cross-reacts with the 44-68 region of the PTH molecule and measures both intact and midregion/carboxy-terminal PTH fragments were used in the comparisons. Plasma PTH concentrations measured by both assays correlated positively with bone formation rate, bone apposition rate, osteoblastic osteoid, osteoclast number, and marrow fibrosis. The optimum predictive value of the amino-terminal PTH assay for osteitis fibrosa was 88%, compared to 74% for the midregion PTH assay. This difference in predictive value could be attributed to the highly significant correlation of marrow fibrosis with plasma amino-terminal PTH. In conclusion, these data suggest that a PTH RIA that uses an amino-terminal-specific antiserum may be a better predictor of osteitis fibrosa in patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis.