Abstract

Clinical interest in salmon calcitonin began in 1972 when this peptide was shown to be effective in the treatment of Paget's disease. Salmon calcitonin is more potent than porcine calcitonin, with human calcitonin intermediate in potency. Salmon calcitonin is a highly effective therapeutic agent in the treatment of Paget's disease. During chronic treatment with salmon calcitonin, alkaline phosphatase activity and urinary hydroxyproline excretion decrease on an average of 50% in patients with Paget's disease. Patients may experience a variety of clinical benefits during chronic treatment, including relief of bone pain, a reversal of neurological deficits, stabilization or improvement of hearing loss, and improvement of vascularity of bone. Radiologic healing of osteolytic lesions in particularly striking with calcitonin treatment. Paget's disease patients prefer treatment with salmon calcitonin administered by means of a nasal spray. Salmon calcitonin has an excellent safety profile and produces mild side effects in a small percentage of patients. The most common side effects associated with salmon calcitonin administration are nausea and facial flushing. It is unusual to observe severe side effects. In about 20% of patients, production of antibodies may neutralize the effects of the exogenously administered calcitonin; these patients respond to human calcitonin. At this time salmon calcitonin should still be considered a valuable therapeutic agent in the treatment of Paget's disease, particularly in patients with osteolytic lesions.