Abstract
Phosphate binders are prescribed to chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients based on associations of serum phosphate concentrations with mortality and calcification, experimental evidence for direct calcifying effects of phosphate on vascular smooth muscle tissue and the central importance of phosphate retention in CKD-mineral and bone disorder (CKD-MBD). Current knowledge regarding phosphate metabolism in CKD provides important insight into disease mechanisms and supports future clinical trials of phosphate binders in CKD patients to determine the impact of these medications on clinically relevant outcomes. The risks and benefits of phosphate binders cannot be inferred from association studies of serum phosphate concentrations, which are inconsistent and subject to confounding, animal-experimental data, which are based on conditions that differ from human disease, or physiological arguments, which are limited to known regulatory factors. Many interventions that targeted biochemical pathways suggested by association studies and suspected biological importance have yielded null or harmful results. Clinical trials of phosphate binders are of high clinical and scientific importance to nephrology. Demonstration of reduced rates of clinical disease in such trials could lead to important health benefits for CKD patients, whereas negative results would refocus efforts to understand and treat CKD-MBD. Clinical trials that employ highly practical or 'pragmatic' designs represent an optimal approach for determining the safety and effectiveness of phosphate binders in real-world settings. Absent clinical trial data, observational studies of phosphate binders in large CKD populations could provide important information regarding the benefits, risks and/or unintended side effects of these medications.