title: Clinical significance of the heterogeneity of parathyroid hormone.
abstract: Circulating immunoreactive PTH consists primarily of intact hormone and a biologically inactive C-terminal fragment. About half of the intact PTH is removed by the kidney and half by other mechanisms. In contrast, the kidney appears almost solely responsible for removal of the C-terminal fragment. There have as yet not been definitive answers to the following questions: Where in the body is the long-lived C-terminal fragment produced? What is the quantitative relation between the disappearance half-time of the C-terminal fragment and some measure of the stage of kidney dysfunction? What is the true prevalence of ectopic PTH production?
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D002621:Chemistry; D006729:Hormones, Ectopic / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D010281:Parathyroid Hormone / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D006729:Hormones, Ectopic; D010281:Parathyroid Hormone