Reduced risk of hypercalcemia for hemodialysis patients by administering calcitriol at night

Renal osteodystrophy therapy in dialysis patients with calcitriol and intestinal phosphate binders containing calcium entails the risk of hypercalcemia. A study was performed using 35 hemodialysis patients to see whether the time of day when calcitriol is administered influences the incidence of hypercalcemia. It was shown that simply by administering at night (11:00 PM), the occurrence of hypercalcemia was significantly reduced. While greater than 80% of patients developed hypercalcemia when calcitriol was administered in the morning, when administered at night, this figure was only 50% (P less than 0.013). At the same time, the extent of hypercalcemia when calcitriol was administered at night was significantly lower than when it was administered in the morning. The incidence of hypercalcemia occurred regardless of the type of phosphate binder containing calcium used, whether it was calcium acetate or calcium carbonate. In addition, hypercalcemic episodes were always associated with hyperphosphatemia. On the basis of the above information, it would be expedient to administer calcitriol at night to dialysis patients, in order to reduce the risk of hypercalcemia and to preserve the hypophosphatemic effect of the applied intestinal phosphate binders.