Deranged metabolism of lipids in patients with chronic renal failure: possible role of secondary hyperparathyroidism.

We wished to investigate the pathophysiology of hypertriglyceridemia in chronic renal failure. Our subjects were 30 patients under hemodialysis for at least five years who had never taken vitamin D analogues or calcitonin preparations. During those five years, triglycerides were high, with no significant changes, although the cholesterol level decreased significantly 10 to 1 2 months after the first hemodialysis treatment. There was a significant correlation between alkaline phosphatase and triglycerides (p < 0.025) in these patients in the same assay. In the two patients with hypertriglyceridemia, serum triglycerides decreased to within the normal range by six months after parathyroidectomy, and remained there 30 months after surgery. These results suggested that secondary hyperparathyroidism maybe involved in the pathophysiological mechanism of hypertriglyceridemia seen in chronic renal failure.