title: Intact parathyrin in postmenopausal women.
abstract: To establish a reference range, we measured intact parathyrin (parathyroid hormone, PTH) in 245 healthy postmenopausal women, ages 42-75 years, with use of the Allegro Intact PTH Kit from Nichols Institute Diagnostics. We also assayed serum from a subset of 120 of the women with kits specific for mid-molecule PTH. The mean intact PTH concentration for the 245 women was 32 ng/L (95% confidence interval 14-60 ng/L). Intact PTH values in these subjects were not normally distributed, although calcium concentrations in the same samples were. There was positive, but not significant (r = 0.12, P = 0.06), correlation between intact PTH and age, and a significant negative correlation between serum calcium and intact PTH that was not observed between calcium and mid-molecule PTH. The improved sensitivity of the intact PTH assay makes it useful in studies of calcium homeostasis in the normal population.
authors.affiliation: Calcium and Bone Metabolism Laboratory, USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111.
authors.forename: L J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Sokoll
authors.forename: F D
authors.initials: FD
authors.lastname: Morrow
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Quirbach
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dawson-Hughes
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000097:blood; D002118:Calcium / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008593:Menopause / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010281:Parathyroid Hormone / Q000097:blood*; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; D012016:Reference Values
chemical_list: D010281:Parathyroid Hormone; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; D002118:Calcium