Patent ID: 7056655

Claim:
A method for monitoring and guiding therapeutic suppression of parathyroid hormone in a renal patient having secondary hyperparathyroidism, said method comprising: a) obtaining a sample of blood, serum or plasma from said renal patient; b) determining and monitoring the level of a parathyroid hormone (PTH) agonist in said sample, wherein said agonist comprises a contiguous segment of human PTH having the amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO:1, wherein said segment starts at position 1 of human PTH, and ends at any position from position 34 through position 84 of human PTH; c) determining and monitoring the level of a PTH antagonist in said sample, wherein said antagonist comprises a contiguous portion of human PTH having the amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO:1, wherein said portion starts at any position from position 2 through position 33 of human PTH, ends at any position from position 35 through position 84 of human PTH, and has a minimal length of three amino acid residues; and d) administering a therapeutic that suppresses PTH agonist to the patient whereby the amount of therapeutic administered is adjusted such that PTH agonist levels are decreased and the level of PTH antagonist is minimized.