Switching from conventional therapy to burosumab injection has the potential to prevent nephrocalcinosis in patients with X-linked hypophosphatemic rickets.

OBJECTIVES: X-linked hypophosphatemic rickets (XLH) is a congenital fibroblast growth factor (FGF)23-related metabolic bone disease that is treated with active vitamin D and phosphate as conventional therapies. Complications of these therapies include nephrocalcinosis (NC) caused by excessive urine calcium and phosphate concentrations. Recently, an anti-FGF23 antibody, burosumab, was developed and reported to be effective in poorly-controlled or severe XLH patients. This study aimed to reveal the impact of switching treatments in relatively well-controlled XLH children with the Rickets Severity Scale less than 2.0.

METHODS: The effects of the two treatments in eight relatively well-controlled XLH children with a mean age of 10.4 ± 1.9 years were compared retrospectively for the same treatment duration (31 ± 11 months) before and after the baseline.

RESULTS: Actual doses of alfacalcidol and phosphate as conventional therapy were 150.9 ± 43.9 ng/kg and 27.5 ± 6.3 mg/kg per day, respectively. Renal echography revealed spotty NC in 8/8 patients, but no aggravation of NC was detected by switching treatments. Switching treatments increased TmP/GFR (p=0.002) and %TRP (p<0.001), and improved the high urine calcium/creatinine ratio to the normal range (p<0.001) although both treatments controlled disease markers equally. Additionally, low intact parathyroid hormone during conventional therapy was increased within the normal range by switching treatments.

CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that a high dose of alfacalcidol was needed to control the disease, but it caused hypercalciuria and NC. We concluded that switching treatments in relatively well-controlled XLH children improved renal phosphate reabsorption and decreased urine calcium extraction, and may have the potential to prevent NC.