PTH and hypoparathyroidism: In patients with hypoparathyroidism, daily subcutaneous (SC) treatment with recombinant human PTH (rhPTH(1–84), PTH rDNA; NATPARA®; Shire-NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Lexington, MA, USA) has the potential to reproduce some of the physiologic effects of PTH compared with conventional therapy, such as lowering serum phosphate levels, promoting conversion of 25(OH)D to active 1,25(OH)2D, and improving renal tubular reabsorption of calcium.