Is It Too Much of a Good Thing? A New Era in Phosphate Binder Therapy in ESRD.

Hyperphosphatemia and anemia are common complications in patients with advanced CKD, and both contribute to their increasedmorbidity andmortality fromcardiovasculardisease. Fortunately, both conditions can be effectively treated with currently available therapeutic agents: phosphate binders, erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs), and iron supplementation. Regrettably, we now recognize that use of these agents, while indispensable, may also be associated with harm. The optimal control of serum phosphate with phosphatebinding agents has evolved over the last five decades. Aluminum hydroxide was essentially abandoned, because aluminum accumulates in the brain, bone, and bone marrow, causing serious harm. Calcium–based phosphate binder use was restricted because of concerns about the potential of calcium load for enhancing progression of vascular calcification. The above concerns led to the development of a new class of binders, such as sevelamer and lanthanum carbonate, that do not contain aluminum or calcium. However, sevelamer usually requires large numbers of pills and may be associated with significant gastrointestinal adverse effects, whereas a small amount of lanthanum is absorbed from lanthanum carbonate and deposited in various organs.1 Thus, the availability of the newer iron–based phosphate binders is bound to be welcome. Treatment of anemia in patients on dialysis and patients with CKD has also evolved over time. In the pre-ESA era, repeated transfusions led to severe iron overload. However, after the approval of ESA in 1989 and its spectacular rise to glory, iron deficiency became common, leading to recommendations by clinical practice guidelines to administer intravenous iron to replenish iron stores and improve response to ESA.2 Unexpectedly, ESAs suffered a major setback after the publication of four randomized clinical trials in patients on dialysis and patients with CKD, which showed that targeting hemoglobin (Hb) .13.0 g/dlwith ESAmay cause harm, including cardiovascular events, access thrombosis, and possibly, mortality.1,3–6 In response to these findings, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) changed the black box warning for administering ESAs,7 and changes in clinical practice guidelines and the dialysis payment systems followed suit, with the intent to curtail ESA use.8 These changes led to a progressive decrease in ESA use, but there was a parallel increase in intravenous iron use in an attempt to further reduce ESA-dosing requirements.9 This is consistent with Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes clinical practice guidelines that recommend using intravenous iron for anemia in dialysis to increase Hb concentration or decrease ESA dose.10 Data from the Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study (DOPPS) confirmed the increasing use of intravenous iron in patients on dialysis.9 Indeed, the mean serum ferritin has increased from 640 to 826 ng/ml from August of 2010 to January of 2012, and the percentage of patients with ferritin .1200 ng/ml also increased from 8.6% to 18% of patients.11 Unfortunately, excessive intravenous iron administration is not without risks. All intravenous iron formulations have the potential to cause hypotension and anaphylactoid reactions and promote infection, oxidative stress, and endothelial dysfunction.More importantly, recentDOPPS data showed an increase in mortality and hospitalization rates in patients whose monthly intravenous iron dose was .300 mg.12 Furthermore, because intravenous iron bypasses the physiologic controls that regulate intestinal iron absorption, it may lead to iron overload. A recentmagnetic resonance imaging study showed that 84% of patients on hemodialysis receiving ESA and intravenous iron supplementation have hepatic iron overload.13 That is why a number of recent editorials have raised concern about the potential harm from the current trend in intravenous iron use in patients on dialysis.14,15 To recap, ESA and iron supplementation are necessary for treating the anemia of CKD, but high doses of either may not be safe. The notion that a single drug has the capacity to control serum phosphate and at the same time, reduce ESA and intravenous iron use is appealing. Ferric citrate (FC), a new iron–based phosphate binder that was approved by the US FDA for clinical use in patients on dialysis in September of 2014, may just do that. In a recent phase 3 randomized clinical trial, in which 292 patients on hemodialysis were assigned to FC and 149 patients on hemodialysis were assigned to active control (AC) with sevelamer carbonate and/or calcium acetate and followed for 52 weeks, the phosphate-binding ability of FC was found to be similar to that of AC.16 For secondary outcomes, the study evaluated the capacity of FC to replenish iron stores and reduce intravenous iron and ESAs use. In this issue of JASN, Umanath et al.17 provide details about changes in serum iron parameters and Hb levels Published online ahead of print. Publication date available at www.jasn.org.