The Relationship Between Disturbed Metabolism of Vitamin D and Bone Disease in Chronic Renal Failure

Following the discovery that the kidney is involved in the metabolism of vitamin D, a causal relationship has been sought between defective production of 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D3 and bone disease in chronic renal failure. This paper reviews some of the clinical evidence for and against such a relationship, and considers the possible role of other vitamin D metabolites in the pathophysiology of renal bone disease.