IntroductionWe recently reported that in healthy men, changes in the production rate (PR) (29), the serum concentration of 1,2540H)2D decreases. We have shown in healthy men that these phosphorus-induced changes in serum concentration of 1,25-(OH)2D can be accounted for entirely by changes in the production rate (PR) of the hormone (25). The mechanism by which changes in dietary phosphorus induce changes in the PR of 1,25-(OH)2D has, however, not been defined. In the chick and rat, the concentration ofphosphorus in serum (1 1, 19, 30, 31) or bathing medium (32) can be an important determinant of the activity of l-hydroxylase and the production rate of 1,25-(OH)2D. Yet, in humans, both restriction (24) and supplementation (25, 28) of dietary phosphorus can induce sustained changes in serum concentration of 1,25-(OH)2D without sustained changes in the morning fasting serum concentration ofphosphorus. These observations raise the question of whether changes in serum concentration of phosphorus do in fact mediate the changes in serum concentration of 1 ,2540H)2D induced by manipulation of dietary phosphorus.In normal subjects ingesting a normal diet, the serum concentration of phosphorus exhibits a circadian rhythm that is characterized by a nadir in the morning, a rise in early afternoon, and a peak at night (33-37). Indeed, Stanbury reported such a circadian rhythm in serum phosphorus in normal adult subjects ingesting only a small, constant amount of fluid hourly for 24 h (33). But Jubiz et al. subsequently reported that the nocturnal peak in serum phosphorus level was abolished in normal subjects receiving neither food nor fluid for 24 h, and suggested that the circadian changes in serum phosphorus were due in large part to food ingestion (35). In fact, it is not known whether the circadian rhythm in serum phosphorus can be affected by changes only in phosphorus intake in sub-