Aluminium overload of parathyroid glands in haemodialysed patients with hyperparathyroidism: effect on bone remodelling.

In the course of chronic renal failure, aluminium may deposit and accumulate in different tissues. The aluminium content of parathyroid glands was measured in 31 haemodialysis patients at the time of a parathyroidectomy. The values were compared with those obtained from ten control patients with primary hyperparathyroidism without renal failure, and were related to bone remodelling. Of the 31 patients, 27 had a bone biopsy after double tetracycline labelling, at the time of parathyroidectomy. Twenty-one patients had severe hyperparathyroidism, three patients had hyperparathyroidism associated with osteomalacia, three patients had mild hyperparathyroidism with reduced bone formation. Seven patients had bone aluminium deposits, associated with osteomalacia in one case. The parathyroid aluminium was 62 +/- 35.7 (mumol/g glandular dry weight) in haemodialysis patients and 14.3 +/- 6.3 in control patients (P less than 0.001). A significant positive correlation existed between parathyroid aluminium and serum aluminium (P less than 0.01). The parathyroid aluminium was not different in the patients with and without bone aluminium deposits. A weak correlation was found between parathyroid aluminium and plasma parathyroid hormone. A significant negative correlation existed between parathyroid aluminium and osteoblastic surfaces (P less than 0.05), but no correlation was found with bone formation rate at tissue and bone multicellular units levels. We conclude that aluminium accumulates in parathyroid glands of dialysed patients. Severe hyperparathyroidism may coexist with aluminium overload of parathyroid glands. A marked aluminium overload, however, may cut short the course of hyperparathyroidism and may decrease parathyroid function and cellular activity in bone.