Plasma alpha 2HS-glycoprotein concentration in Paget's disease of bone: its possible significance.

1. The plasma concentration of the alpha 2HS-glycoprotein has been measured in 58 normal adults and in patients with Paget's disease of bone before (24) and during treatment (16). 2. The average plasma alpha 2HS-glycoprotein was lower in the patients with Paget's disease than in the normal adults and was inversely related to plasma alkaline phosphatase activity (r = -0.55, n = 24, P less than 0.001). 3. When the patients with Paget's disease were treated with either diphosphonate or calcitonin, the plasma alpha 2HS-glycoprotein concentration increased towards normal. In those patients treated with calcitonin, this increase was too rapid to be entirely accounted for by a cessation of bone formation.