Kidney stone disease affects ~10% of the global population and the incidence continues to rise owing to the associated global increase in the incidence of medical conditions associated with kidney stone disease including, for example, those comprising the metabolic syndrome. Considering that the intestinal microbiome has a substantial influence on host metabolism, that evidence has suggested that the intestinal microbiome might have a role in maintaining oxalate homeostasis and kidney stone disease is unsurprising. In addition, the discovery that urine is not sterile but, like other sites of the human body, harbours commensal bacterial species that collectively form a urinary microbiome, is an additional factor that might influence the induction of crystal formation and stone growth directly in the kidney. Collectively, the microbiomes of the host could influence kidney stone disease at multiple levels, including intestinal oxalate absorption and direct crystal formation in the kidneys.
Nature reviews. Urology. 2022 Sep 20 [Epub ahead of print]
Aaron W Miller, Kristina L Penniston, Kate Fitzpatrick, José Agudelo, Gregory Tasian, Dirk Lange
Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA., Department of Urology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA., Division of Urology, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA., The Stone Centre at Vancouver General Hospital, Department of Urologic Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. .