Avioli/Henneman: Urinary Pyrophosphate in Disorders of Bone Metabolism 67 



References 



Evans, E. B., G.W.N. Eggers, J. K. Butler, and J. Blumel: Experimental immobilization 



and remobilization of rat knee joints. J. Bone Jt Surg. 42 A, 737 (1960). 

 Mastromarino R., e A. Maiotti: Ricerche sperimentali sugli effetti dell'immobilizzazione 



e sulla ripresa funzionale in articolazioni normali. Riv. Ortop. Traumatol. 24, 173 (1956). 

 Rokkanen, p.: Role of surgical intervention of the hip joint in the aetiology of aseptic 



necrosis of the femoral head. Acta orthop. scand. Suppl. 58 (1962). 

 Rutishauser, E.: Kreislaufstorungen im Knochensystem. Verb, dtsch. path. Ges. 47, 91 (1963). 

 — , A. RoHNER und D. Held: Experimentelle Untersuchungen iiber die Wirkung der Ischamie 



auf den Knochen und das Mark. Virchows Arch. path. Anat. 333, 101 (1960). 



Urinary Pyrophosphate in Disorders of Bone Metabolism 



L. V. AvioLi, Ph. H. Henneman 



Division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine, 

 New Jersey College of Medicine and Dentistry, Jersey City, N. J., U.S.A. 



The identification of pyrophosphate in bone by Perkins and Walker (1958) and 

 its inhibitory role in hydroxyapatlte precipitation noted by Fleisch and Bisaz (1962) 

 suggested that pyrophosphate played an important role in bone formation and 

 remodeling processes. The present study was undertaken to investigate urinary pyro- 

 phosphate excretion in patients 

 vv^ith diseases characterized by 

 accelerated rates of bone turno- 

 ver. Concomitant measurements 

 Vk^ere also made of urinary 

 hydroxyproline and total inor- 

 ganic phosphorus. 



-ft 25 



-^20 



•<> 



Methods 



Pyrophosphate was isolated 

 from duplicate 1.0 ml aliquots 

 of cold homogenized 24-hour 

 urine samples by a modification 

 of the difTerential acid elution 

 methods of Fleisch and Bisaz 

 (1962). The completeness of 

 orthophosphate - pyrophosphate 

 recovery was substantiated by 

 the recovery of known amounts 

 of stable and radioactive ortho- 

 and pyrophosphate from human 

 urine and the completeness of 

 separation was demonstrated by 

 thin layer chromatographic techniques. Total urinary hydroxyproline was measured 

 in hydrolyzed urine samples by the method of Prockop and Udenfriend (1960) and 



A/or/no/ Paget 's 

 Disease 



Metastatic Hyper- ^ 



/lalignanci/ Parattiyroidism ^ 



Ttiyroidism 



Fig. 1. Pyrophosphate excretion in normal adults and in patients 



with bone disease. Black circles represent the average pyrophosphate 



values of two consecutive 24-hr urinary collections; horizontal bar 



in each group represents calculated mean values 



