Brief report: Does PTH increase with age, independent of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, phosphate, renal function, and ionized calcium?

CONTEXT

Circulating PTH concentrations increase with age. It is uncertain whether an age-related PTH increase occurs independent of changes in circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D, phosphate, renal function, and ionized calcium.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this article was to analyze the relationship between PTH and age, controlling for 25-hydroxyvitamin D, phosphate, renal function, and ionized calcium.

METHODS

This was a retrospective, cross-sectional study analyzing the relationship between PTH and age in 2 independent datasets (laboratory 1, n = 17 275 and laboratory 2, n = 4878). We further analyzed subgroups after excluding participants with estimated glomerular filtration rate of <60 mL/min/1.73 m(2) or 25-hydroxyvitamin D of <50 nmol/L (for subgroups, n = 12 051 for laboratory 1 and 3473 for laboratory 2).

RESULTS

After adjustment for sex, ionized calcium, 25-hydroxyvitamin D, phosphate, and estimated glomerular filtration rate, each 10-year increase in age was associated with a 5.0% increase in PTH (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.4%-5.6%; P < .001) in laboratory 1 and a 4.2% increase in laboratory 2 (95% CI, 3.0%-5.4%; P < .001). In the subgroups, each 10-year increase in age was associated with a 6.1% increase in PTH (95% CI, 5.5%-6.8%; P < .001) in laboratory 1 and a 4.9% increase (95% CI 3.5%-6.2%; P < .001) in laboratory 2.

CONCLUSION

PTH concentrations increase with age, independent of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, ionized calcium, phosphate, and renal function. Further research is required to explore the underlying mechanisms and clinical relevance and to determine whether the use of age-related PTH reference ranges improves diagnostic accuracy, particularly in elderly individuals.