Hyperparathyroidism in patients with primary aldosteronism: cross-sectional and interventional data from the GECOH study.

CONTEXT: Experimental studies suggest that aldosterone induces hypercalciuria and might contribute to hyperparathyroidism.

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to test for differences in PTH levels and parameters of calcium and vitamin D metabolism in patients with primary aldosteronism (PA) compared with patients with essential hypertension (EH) and to evaluate the impact of PA treatment on these laboratory values.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND

PARTICIPANTS

The Graz Endocrine Causes of Hypertension study includes hypertensive patients referred for screening for endocrine hypertension at a tertiary care center in Graz, Austria.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Differences in PTH levels between patients with PA and EH.

RESULTS

Among 192 patients, we identified 10 patients with PA and 182 with EH. PTH levels (mean ± sd in picograms per milliliter) were significantly higher in PA patients compared with EH (67.8 ± 26.9 vs. 46.5 ± 20.9; P = 0.002). After treatment of PA with either adrenal surgery (n = 5) or mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (n = 5), PTH concentrations decreased to 43.9 ± 14.9 (P = 0.023). Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations were similar in both groups. Compared with EH, serum calcium concentrations were significantly lower (2.35 ± 0.10 vs. 2.26 ± 0.10 mmol/liter; P = 0.013), and there was a nonsignificant trend toward an increased spot urine calcium to creatinine ratio in PA [median (interquartile range) 0.19 (0.11-0.31) vs. 0.33 (0.12-0.53); P = 0.094].

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that PA contributes to secondary hyperparathyroidism. Further studies are warranted to evaluate whether PTH has implications for PA diagnostics and whether mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists have a general impact on PTH and calcium metabolism.