Heritable traits that contribute to nephrolithiasis.

Urinary stones tend to cluster in families. Of the known risk factors, evidence is strongest for heritability of urinary calcium excretion. Recent studies suggest that other stone risk factors may have heritable components including urinary pH, citrate and magnesium excretion, and circulating vitamin D concentration. Several risk factors assumed purely environmental may also have heritable components, including dietary intake and thirst. Thus, future studies may reveal that genetics plays an even stronger role in urinary stone pathogenesis than previously known.

Urolithiasis. 2018 Nov 20 [Epub ahead of print]

John C Lieske, Xiangling Wang

Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN, 55901, USA. ., Genomic Medicine Institute, Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA.