Carboxy-terminal pyridinoline cross-linked telopeptide of type I collagen (ICTP) in serum has recently been proposed as a new biochemical marker of bone resorption. In the present study we compared serum ICTP with radiopharmaceutical and histomorphometric measurements of bone turnover in postmenopausal women with mild osteoporosis, and assessed the effect of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) (2 mg 17 beta-estradiol plus 1 mg norethisterone daily) and anabolic steroid therapy (50 mg nandrolone decanoate (ND) i.m. every 3 weeks) on serum ICTP in two double-blind placebo-controlled studies with 55 to 75-year-old women. Serum ICTP measured by radioimmunoassay (RIA) correlated significantly with the 24-hour whole body retention of 99m-technetium diphosphonate (Rho = 0.47, P < 0.001, n = 66), but not with histomorphometric measurements of bone turnover in iliac crest biopsies. One year of HRT (n = 16) versus placebo (n = 15) did not produce significant changes in serum ICTP. Compared with placebo (n = 17), 1 year of ND (n = 19) produced an increase in serum ICTP of 90 +/- 16% (P < 0.0001); 6 months after discontinuation of the treatment, serum ICTP had returned to pretreatment values. We conclude that serum ICTP does reflect bone metabolism in postmenopausal osteoporosis, but it is not a sensitive marker of the changes in bone resorption induced by hormone replacement therapy, and it does not correspond with other measures of bone resorption during anabolic steroid therapy.