indication

For use/treatment in osteoporosis.

pharmacology

Parathyroid hormone is responsible for the fine regulation of serum calcium concentration on a minute-to-minute basis. This is achieved by the acute effects of the hormone on calcium resorption in bone and calcium reabsorption in the kidney. The phosphate mobilized from bone is excreted into the urine by means of the hormone's influence on renal phosphate handling. Parathyroid hormone also stimulates calcium absorption in the intestine, this being mediated indirectly by 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D. Thus, a hypocalcemic stimulus of parathyroid hormone secretion results in an increased influx of calcium from three sources (bone, kidney, and intestine), resulting in a normalization of the serum calcium concentration without change in the serum phosphate concentration.

mechanism of action

The biological actions of rhPTH are mediated through binding to at least two distinct high- affinity cell-surface receptors specific for the N-terminal and C-terminal regions of the molecule, both of which are required for normal bone metabolism. The N-terminal portion of the molecule is primarily responsible for the bone building effects of parathyroid hormone. The C-terminal portion of the molecule has antiresorptive activity and is necessary for normal regulation of N-terminal fragment activity.

biotransformation

PTH is metabolised in the liver and to a lesser extent in the kidney. Parathyroid hormone is efficiently removed from the blood by a receptor-mediated process in the liver and is broken down into smaller peptide fragments. The fragments derived from the amino-terminus are further degraded within the cell while the fragments derived from the carboxy-terminus are released back into the blood and cleared by the kidney. These carboxy-terminal fragments are thought to play a role in the regulation of PTH activity. Under normal physiological conditions full-length PTH constitutes only 5-30% of the circulating forms of the molecule, while 70-95% is present as carboxy-terminal fragments. Following administration of Preotact, carboxy-terminal fragments make up about 60-90% of the circulating forms of the molecule. Intersubject variability in systemic clearance is about 15%.

absorption

The absolute bioavailability of 100 micrograms of Preotact after subcutaneous administration in the abdomen is 55%.

half life

The mean half-life is approximately 1.5 hours.

route of elimination

Not excreted from the body in its intact form. Circulating carboxy-terminal fragments are filtered by the kidney, but are subsequently broken down into even smaller fragments during tubular reuptake.