title: Case report: hypercalcemia in a patient with AIDS and Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia.
abstract: Pneumocystis carinii infection is commonly seen in patients infected with HIV, and there is evidence of macrophage involvement in the disease process. Macrophage dysfunction can result in abnormal vitamin D metabolism as is often seen in a granulomatous disease such as sarcoidosis. This article describes a patient with AIDS who had P. carinii pneumonia and hypercalcemia and had elevated 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D levels, the first such reported case in the literature. There was no other evidence of a granulomatous disease such as sarcoidosis or tuberculosis to account for this. It is suggested that the increase in 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D level was secondary to P. carinii induced macrophage dysfunction. As the patient's P. carinii pneumonia resolved, his 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D level normalized along with the resolution of hypercalcemia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112-2699.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Jaspan
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications*; D000328:Adult; D002117:Calcitriol / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D006934:Hypercalcemia / Q000209:etiology*; D016676:Macrophages, Alveolar / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D011020:Pneumonia, Pneumocystis / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D002117:Calcitriol