Smoking and hyperparathyroidism in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD)

Smoking is associated with hyperparathyroidism in the elderly general population and nicotine, the main component of tobacco smoke, stimulates PTH release in experimental models. Although smoking is a persisting problem in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), the association between smoking and PTH has never been specifically examined in these patients. We investigated the relationship between smoking and hyperparathyroidism in a well-characterized group of 161 nondiabetic dialysis patients.

Sixty-four patients (40%) were smokers. Heavy smokers had higher intact PTH (median: 280 pg/mL) and PTH1-84 (188 pg/mL) than light smokers (180 pg/mL and 95 pg/mL) and nonsmokers (169 pg/mL and 95 pg/mL). In a multiple regression analysis, smoking was independently associated with intact PTH (ß=0.29, p=0.002) and PTH1-84 (ß=0.29, p=0.002). Fifty-six of 161 patients (35%) were classified as having hyperparathyroidism. In a multiple logistic regression model the odds of hyperparathyroidism were about 4 times higher in heavy smokers (odds ratio 3.88, 95% CI 1.16-12.92, p=0.027) than in nonsmokers.

In dialysis patients heavy smoking is independently associated with high levels of intact PTH and PTH1-84. Further observational, mechanistic and interventional studies are needed to assess the nature (causal or noncausal) of these links in ESRD.