Previous studies find kidney stone formers (KSF) are at greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD). The underlying mechanisms are poorly understood, and many clinicians are unaware of this connection. We will: DATA SYNTHESIS: Our systematic review is registered with PROSPERO (ID CRD42021251477). We searched epidemiological and biological data. The epidemiological search generated 669 papers, narrowed down to 15. There were 4,259,869 participants (230,720 KSFs). KSF was associated with 25% higher risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) (95% confidence interval (CI): 15, 35%), 17% higher risk of stroke/transient ischemic attacks (TIA) (CI:10, 25%) and 39% higher risk of arterial disease (AD) (CI: 17 65%). Significant heterogeneity was found. Female-identifying KSFs had a higher risk of stroke (ratio = 1.10) and CAD (1.20). The biological search generated 125 papers, narrowed down to 14. Potential underlying mechanisms were extracted and discussed, including intimal/medial vascular calcification, oxidative stress via osteopontin (OPN), cholesterol-induced pathology, and endothelial dysfunction.
There is a significant association between KSF and CVD, supporting the consideration of KSF as a systemic, calcium-mediated disease. Clinicians will benefit from being aware of this connection.
Nutrition, metabolism, and cardiovascular diseases : NMCD. 2023 Sep 20 [Epub]
Luke Muschialli, Ankith Mannath, Shabbir H Moochhala, Rukshana Shroff, Pietro Manuel Ferraro
UCL Medical School, Faculty of Medical Sciences, UCL, London, UK. Electronic address: ., UCL Medical School, Faculty of Medical Sciences, UCL, London, UK., UCL Department of Renal Medicine, Royal Free Hospital, London, UK., UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, UK., U.O.S. Terapia Conservativa della Malattia Renale Cronica, Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche e Chirurgiche, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Roma, Italy; Dipartimento Universitario di Medicina e Chirurgia Traslazionale, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italy.