Elevated plasma aluminum levels in normal infants receiving antacids containing aluminum.

Aluminum toxicity is a documented cause of encephalopathy, anemia, and osteomalacia. Excretion is primarily renal; therefore, patients with renal insufficiency are at risk for aluminum accumulation and toxicity. This has been demonstrated in uremic children treated with aluminum-containing antacids. The purpose of this study was to determine whether plasma aluminum levels were elevated in infants with normal renal function during prolonged aluminum-containing antacid use. Ten study infants (mean age = 5.8 months), who had been receiving antacids for at least 1 week, were compared with 16 control infants (mean age = 9.8 months) not receiving antacids. The study patients consumed 123 +/- 16 mg/kg per day (mean +/- SEM) of elemental aluminum for an average of 4.7 weeks. Their plasma aluminum level (37.2 +/- 7.13 micrograms/L) was significantly greater than that of the control group (4.13 +/- 0.66 micrograms/L) (P less than .005). It is concluded that plasma aluminum levels may become elevated in infants with normal renal function who are consuming high doses of aluminum-containing antacids. The safety of antacids containing aluminum should not be assumed and they should be used judiciously in infants, with careful monitoring of the aluminum dose and plasma level.