Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation, Vol 12, Issue 1 101-105, Copyright © 1997 by Oxford University Press
P Messa, D Turrin, G Mioni and A Cruciatti
Background. Although the methodology for calculating
the PTH secretory parameters is well established, a consensus on a common
methodology for calculation of the set point value has not yet been
achieved. This is probably one of the major reasons for the conflicting
results obtained for this secretory parameter. The aim of the present study
was to analyse the influence of the different methods of calculation on the
values of set point obtained in clinical nephrology practice.
Methods. We analysed 68 PTH-calcium sigmoidal curves,
obtained by infusion of 37 mg/kg Na2-EDTA i.v in 2 h and 8 mg/kg Ca
gluconate based on the calcium element i.v. in 2 h on two separate days.
The set point was calculated according to three different methods:
method A, the originally described method, based on
the classical four-parameter model, which considers the set point as the
calcium concentration corresponding to the PTH value intermediate between
the maximal and minimal values (the midrange value method);
method B (set point=calcium concentration
corresponding to 50% maximal PTH), and method C (set
point=calcium concentration corresponding to 50% inhibition of basal PTH
value). The three different sets of set point values were entered into the
formula of the sigmoidal curve to test the best fitting of the PTH
experimentally observed values. Results. The set point
values calculated with the classical midrange value method were lower than
the corresponding values calculated by the other two methods; method C gave
the highest values. Furthermore the best fitting or the experimentally
observed PTH levels was obtained by method A, the worst method by method C,
while method B gave intermediate results. The difference between method A
and method B was analysed in order to see if this difference is constant
over the whole range of PTH secretory conditions and calcium concentration.
The higher the basal serum calcium concentrations and the lower the
suppressibility of PTH, the greater was the overestimation of set point
values by method B compared to the midrange value method.
Conclusion. Method A, the midrange value method, gives
the set point values closest to the original concept of the four parameter
model. Although method B (50% of maximal PTH) is well correlated with the
original method, it overestimates the set point values and most
importantly, this overestimation is not constant, but largely affected by
calcium concentration and by the secretory conditions of parathyroid
glands. Key words:calcium; parathyroid hormones;
sigmoidal curve; set point
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Impact of the method of calculation on assessment of the PTH-calcium set point
Nephrology Dialysis, Transplantation Department, Nuclear Medicine Institute, Institute of Clinical Chemistry, Ospedale S Maria della Misericordia, 33100 Udine, Italy; Corresponding author
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