A new study published in BMC Nephrology examined whether treatment with calcitriol reduces serum hepcidin in individuals with CKD. In this randomized trial, 40 patients with stage 3 or 4 chronic kidney disease (CKD) – eGFR 15-60 ml/min/1.73m², were administered either oral calcitriol 0.5 mcg daily or a placebo, for 6 weeks. The findings revealed no significant differences in the baseline characteristics between the placebo and calcitriol groups. Additionally, over 6 weeks, the two groups did not elicit any significant differences in the change in serum hepcidin, iron parameters or hemoglobin. On the other hand, serum calcium and phosphorus significantly increased and parathyroid hormone (PTH) significantly decreased after 6 weeks in the calcitriol group, but these analytes did not change in the placebo group. Hence, it was concluded that calcitriol does not reduce serum hepcidin concentrations among individuals with mild to moderate CKD. Future studies were proposed to assess whether nutritional forms of vitamin D affect hepcidin concentrations in CKD.