Adult coeliac disease, osteomalacia, hyperparathyroidism and acromegaly. Evidence for urinary losses of hydrosoluble metabolites of vitamin D3.

Vitamin D-deficient osteomalacia with pronounced secondary hyperparathyroidism was observed in an acromegalic patient suffering from adult celiac disease. Two oral tests with tritiated vitamin D3 showed a nearly normal absorption coefficient, contrasting with a marked steatorrhea mainly due to functional and reversible pancreatic insufficiency. The urinary excretion of the radioactive label was strikingly increased and accounted for the completely flat curve of plasma radioactivity. This urinary loss of mainly water-soluble metabolite(s) of vitamin D3 represents a unique and presently unexplained feature.