EFFECTS OF PARATHYROID EXTRACT AND OF VITAMIN D ON BLOOD PHOSPHATASE, CALCIUM AND PHOSPHORUS IN OSTEOGENESIS IMPERFECTA

Surprisingly few definite facts have been brought to light by the many attempts thus far made to fathom the nature of the peculiar disturbance in bone metabolism which occurs in osteogenesis imperfecta. The calcium, inorganic phosphorus and proteins of the blood serum have repeatedly been shown to be normal. There is no evidence of any disturbance in the acid-base equilibrium of the body fluids. While reports on studies of the mineral balance in typical cases agree in the main that calcium and phosphorus are retained in subnormal amounts under ordinary conditions, no adequate explanation for such defective retention has been advanced. Antirachitic therapy has repeatedly proved to be ineffective in correcting the disturbance. Parathyroid extract and irradiated ergosterol in excessive doses have both been found to accentuate rather than to lessen the functional abnormality, as judged by their effects on the calcium and phosphorus balances (1).