QUANTITATION OF CALCIUM METABOLISM. THEORY*

Abstract

There is general agreement among all who have used Ca45 for kinetic studies in either man or ex- perimental animals that the decrease with time of specific activity of serum calcium can be ex- pressed mathematically by a series of exponential terms. Beyond this, however, opinions diverge, and there is no agreement on either the number of exponential terms needed, the scheme of the body's calcium economy, or the analytical ap- proach for solving the scheme. This paper aims at presenting a general scheme of calcium metab- olism, its resolution by a combination of balance and isotope technics, and a critical review of past work.