Background and objectives The optimal treatment regimen for correcting 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) deficiency in children with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is not known. We compared cholecalciferol dosing regimens for achieving and maintaining 25OHD concentrations ≥30ng/ml in children with CKD stages 2-4. Design An open-label multicenter randomized controlled trial randomized children with 25OHD concentrations<30ng/ml in 1:1:1 to oral cholecalciferol 3,000 IU daily, 25,000 IU weekly, or 100,000 IU monthly for 3-months (maximum 3 intensive courses).In those with 25OHD ≥30ng/ml 1,000IU cholecalciferol daily (maintenance course) was given for up to 9 months. Primary outcome was achieving 25OHD≥30 ng/ml at end of intensive phase treatment. Results 90 children were randomized to daily(n = 30), weekly(n = 29) or monthly(n = 31) treatment groups. At end of intensive phase, 70/90(77.8%) achieved 25OHD ≥30ng/ml; 25OHD concentrations were comparable between groups (median 44.3, 39.4, and 39.3 ng/ml for daily, weekly, and monthly groups respectively; p = 0.24) with no difference between groups for time to achieve 25OHD ≥30ng/ml (p = 0.28). There was no change in calcium, phosphorus, and parathyroid hormone, but fibroblast growth factor 23(p = 0.002) and klotho(p = 0.001) concentrations significantly increased and were comparable in all treatment groups. Irrespective of dosing regimen, children with glomerular disease had 25OHD concentrations lower than non-glomerular disease (25.8 vs 41.8 ng/ml; p = 0.007). One child had 25OHD concentration of 134 ng/ml and 5.5% had hypercalcemia without symptoms of toxicity. Conclusion Intensive treatment with oral cholecalciferol as daily, weekly or monthly regimens achieved similar 25OHD concentrations between treatment groups without toxicity. Children with glomerular disease required higher doses of cholecalciferol compared to those with non-glomerular disease.

The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency is high in children with chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, current dosing recommendations are based on limited pharmacokinetic (PK) data. This study aimed to develop a population PK model of colecalciferol that can be used to optimise colecalciferol dosing in this population.Methods: Data from 83 children with CKD were used to develop a population PK model using a nonlinear mixed effects modelling approach. Serum creatinine and type of kidney disease (glomerular vs. nonglomerular disease) were investigated as covariates, and optimal dosing was determined based on achieving and maintaining 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentration of 30-48 ng/mL. Results:The time course of 25(OH)D concentrations was best described by a 1-compartment model with the addition of a basal concentration parameter to reflect endogenous 25(OH)D production from diet and sun exposure. Colecalciferol showed wide between-subject variability in its PK, with total body weight scaled allometrically the only covariate included in the model. Model-based simulations showed that current dosing recommendations for colecalciferol can be optimised using a weightbased dosing strategy.

Background: Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is the preferred modality of renal replacement therapy in children with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). In developing countries, the challenges of initiating and sustaining chronic peritoneal dialysis (CPD) are many and are not well-described in the literature. Methods: This was a retrospective study of children aged 0–18 years on manual PD. The objective was to compare the clinical (growth) and dialysis outcomes (dialysis adequacy and peritonitis rates) in young children with low body weight (LBW; ≤15 kg) on CPD with children weighing >15 kg. Results: We found that at baseline, the dialysis prescription, sociodemographic parameters, and the prevalence of complications of ESRD were similar in both groups. On follow-up, however, growth was significantly more affected in LBW children than the rest of the cohort. The adequacy of dialysis and peritonitis rates were comparable between groups. Conclusions: Despite all the challenges, manual CPD is a feasible modality of dialysis in young children with LBW, and their outcomes are comparable to older children even in low-to-middle-income countries. Appropriate early management of associated complications and improving dialysis adequacy are necessary to improve the outcomes in these children.

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Conclusions: u-eNH 4 + /u-Cr is easily measured in clinical practice and would be more tightly linked with ammonium excretion than serum bicarbonate and other acid-base indicators.