Effect of dietary caffeine and theophylline on urinary calcium excretion in the adult rat.

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.