Effect of Dietary Caffeine and Theophylline on Urinary Calcium Excretion in the Adult Rat

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Abstract
The chronic effects of dietary caffeine or theophylline on urinary calcium excretion were investigated in the adult male rat. When caffeine was added at two concentrations, 0.75 and 1.50 g/kg diet, 24-h urinary calcium excretion rose 300 and 450% on d 7, and 200 and 330% on d 14, respectively. There were no changes in the 24-h urinary excretion of phosphate, sulfate, sodium and cAMP nor did urine volume change. The high dose of caffeine was compared to an equimolar dose of theophylline (1.39 g/kg diet) in both Wistar and Sprague-Dawley rats. Urinary calcium excretion in theophylline-treated rats was significantly greater than in caffeine-treated rats on all sampling days and in both strains of rat; the calciuric effect lasted at least 22 d. When rats were given indomethacin (3.3 mg/kg diet) the calciuria induced by caffeine and theophylline was abolished, and sodium excretion in all groups was reduced by 35–50%, but urine volume was unchanged. The calciuria of methylxanthine feeding may result from a prostaglandin-mediated process distinct from diuresis.