The influence of aluminium on parathyroid hormone levels in haemodialysis patients.

In order to investigate the relationship between parathyroid hormone (PTH) and aluminium we studied 86 haemodialysis patients whom we separated into three groups according to their serum PTH values. Group I: PTH less than 600ng/L; Group II: PTH 600-900ng/L; Group III: PTH greater than 900ng/L. A significant difference was found between Groups I and III in the serum aluminium (Group I: 4.85 mumol/L; Group III: 2.84 mumol/L, p less than 0.003) and serum calcium (Group I: 2.43mmol/L; Group III: 2.32mmol/L, p less than 0.0125). The association of higher serum aluminium and calcium with lower PTH concentrations suggests that aluminium can suppress PTH release through an elevation of the serum calcium.