Parathyroid function and bone metabolism in children with beta thalassaemia major: effects of sex steroid treatment.

Objective: Data on parathyroid function in patients with homozygous beta-thalassaemia are discordant. Moreover, there is no report on the effects of sexual steroid treatment on bone metabolism in these patients.
Methods: Serum parathyroid hormone (PTH), calcitonin (CT) and osteocalcin (GLA protein) levels were measured in 121 patients. Thirty-three prepubertal subjects were treated for six months with sexual steroids.
Results and Conclusions: Primary hypoparathyroidism was present in 3.3% of the patients. Osteocalcin levels were found to be lower in thalassaemic subjects than in controls, whereas CT values were similar. No effects of sexual steroid administration on plasmatic levels of osteocalcin were observed.