title: Effects of aluminum hydroxide on the parathyroid-vitamin D axis of postmenopausal women.
abstract: In previous studies we proposed that estrogen increases circulating calcitriol in postmenopausal women by reducing plasma phosphorus concentrations. For this model to be plausible, a reduction in plasma phosphorus must be itself be sufficient to increase circulating calcitriol in elderly women. To assess this question we studied the effects of Al(OH)3 on daylong circulating levels of phosphorus, calcium, PTH, and calcitriol in 14 postmenopausal women. Subjects were studied on two 7-day periods of dietary control, in which calculated intakes for phosphorus, calcium, and sodium were 950, 800, and 3000 mg/day, respectively. During one randomly assigned period, subjects were given Al(OH)3 with each meal. Al(OH)3 significantly lowered daylong plasma phosphorus concentrations by 17% (0.95 +/- 0.02 mmol/L vs. 1.15 +/- 0.02, P less than 0.0005) (2.94 +/- 0.06 mg/dL vs. 3.57 +/- 0.07), and this was associated with a 38% rise in circulating calcitriol from 61.8 +/- 10.3 pmol/L to 85.2 +/- 10.1 pmol/L (25.7 +/- 4.3 pg/ml to 35.5 +/- 4.2 pg/ml) (P less than 0.0001). The rise in calcitriol correlated significantly with the reduction in phosphorus (r = 0.51, P = 0.03). Al(OH)3 did not significantly alter average daily circulating total calcium (2.32 +/- 0.008 vs. 2.32 +/- 0.005 mmol/L) (9.31 +/- 0.03 vs. 9.29 +/- 0.02 mg/dL), ionized calcium (1.19 +/- 0.003 vs. 1.19 +/- .004 mmol/L), or intact PTH (24.6 +/- 0.6 vs. 24.2 +/- 0.8 ng/L). Moreover, neither the renal phosphorus reabsorption maximum (TmP/GFR), baseline excretion of cAMP, nor the phosphaturic, cAMP, or calcitriol responses to infused hPTH(1-34) were altered by Al(OH)3. We conclude that Al(OH)3 treatment of older women lowers plasma phosphorus concentrations by restricting intestinal phosphorus absorption, and that older women retain the capacity to increase calcitriol levels in response to phosphorus restriction.
authors.affiliation: Aging Study Unit, VA Medical Center Palo Alto, California 94304.
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Villa
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Packer
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cheema
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Holloway
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Marcus
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000536:Aluminum Hydroxide / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002117:Calcitriol / Q000097:blood; D002118:Calcium / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008593:Menopause / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010281:Parathyroid Hormone / Q000097:blood* / Q000494:pharmacology; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000494:pharmacology; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000097:blood; D019379:Teriparatide; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D010281:Parathyroid Hormone; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D019379:Teriparatide; D014807:Vitamin D; D010758:Phosphorus; D000536:Aluminum Hydroxide; D002117:Calcitriol; D002118:Calcium