Calcitriol administration in end-stage renal disease: intravenous or oral?

1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D deficiency plays an important role in the pathogenesis of secondary hyperparathyroidism, and adequate replacement of this hormone is considered essential to normalize parathyroid gland function and restore bone homeostasis in patients with advanced renal failure. Although initial uncontrolled clinical trials suggested the superiority of intravenous calcitriol treatment, more recent controlled investigations show that different routes (oral versus intravenous), frequency (daily versus intermittent), and dosing (physiological versus pharmacological) of calcitriol administration are clinically equivalent. Overall, the response to calcitriol treatment depends more on the severity of secondary hyperparathyroidism and the presence of confounding variables, such as hyperphosphatemia and acquired abnormalities of parathyroid cell function, than the method of calcitriol administration.