Effect of small doses of aluminum-containing antacids on calcium and phosphorus metabolism.

The effect of small doses of four commercially available aluminum-containing antacids on calcium and phosphorus metabolism was investigated in adult males in 20 studies. During the use of these doses of antacids, urinary and fecal calcium increased significantly during a low calcium intake averaging 252 mg/day, and the calcium balances became distinctly more negative. There was a reversal of the normal pattern of phosphorus excretions, namely, the fecal phosphorus was high and the urinary phosphorus was low. During a normal calcium intake of 800 mg/day, these doses of antacids did not result in significant changes of the calcium excretions or balance. Despite the decrease in net intestinal absorption of calcium, the average 47Ca absorption remained unchanged, irrespective of the type and dose of antacid used. In three patients who received large therapeutic doses of antacids, 240 to 450 ml/day, the changes of calcium and phosphorus metabolism were intensified.