The assay of serum peptides of bone collagen formation and degradation could potentially provide an indirect estimate of the rate of bone turnover. In our study we have measured serum levels of the carboxy-terminal propeptide of type I procollagen (PICP) as a marker of bone formation and serum levels of the pyridinoline cross-linked telopeptide domain of type I collagen (ICTP) as a marker of bone resorption in 53 patients (47.7 +/- 10 years, M +/- SD) on haemodialysis (for 9.5 +/- 3.8 years) and affected by renal osteodystrophy. Besides PICP and ICTP, patients were also sampled for serum intact and C-terminal PTH, osteocalcin (BGP) and alkaline phosphatase (AP). A transiliac bone biopsy for histomorphometry was also performed in all. As expected both PTH assays, BGP and AP, were correlated reciprocally and to histomorphometric parameters. As for serum levels of PICP, they were on average increased (268.5 +/- 104.9 ng/ml, M +/- SD) compared to normals (range 66-176), but not correlated to classical humoral markers of hyperparathyroidism (PTH and AP), with the exception of BGP (with a rather low r value: 0.365, P < 0.01), nor to histomorphometric indices of bone resorption and formation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)