Urinary Hydroxyproline Excretion and Growth

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
It seems reasonable to conclude that the excretion of urinary hydroxyproline peptides reflects the metabolism of collagen and that processes which accelerate collagen formation are associated with moderate increases in peptide excretion. Collagen-degrading processes may produce greater excretion. In hyperparathyroidism, Paget''s disease, and in growth in which both synthesis and breakdown occur, it is difficult to evaluate the relative contribution of the 2 processes to the urinary hydroxyproline. Excretion in the normal adult probably reflects the baseline contribution of mature collagen breakdown, but conditions which increase the soluble collagen fraction show an increase in urinary hydroxyproline excretion out of proportion to the actual mass of collagen which this fraction represents. Whether this increment is a result of the high turnover rate of the soluble collagen pool alone or whether it also reflects an increase in turnover of the mature collagen fractions is unknown. Urinary hydroxyproline excretion appears to provide a valuable index of collagen metabolism in the intact animal.