Relationship between C-reactive protein and kidney stone prevalence.

Abstract

We evaluated the relationship between serum C-reactive protein and the lifetime kidney stone prevalence. We performed a cross-sectional study of participants from the Continuous National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2007 to 2008 and 2008 to 2009. Data were available on 11,033 participants. On univariate analysis we noted a strong correlation between C-reactive protein quintile and kidney stone history. After adjusting for known confounders multivariate logistic regression revealed a significant relationship between C-reactive protein and the lifetime prevalence of kidney stones in younger individuals (age 20 to 39 years, p for trend = 0.002). In individuals 20 to 39 years old the lifetime prevalence of kidney stones increased with increasing C-reactive protein quintile (p = 0.002 for trend), specifically, those in the third quintile (OR 3.86, 95% CI 1.07-13.88, p = 0.04) and the fifth quintile (OR 3.85, 95% CI 1.46-10.17, p = 0.009). The fourth quintile of C-reactive protein approached statistical significance (OR 2.56, 95% CI 0.96-6.81, p = 0.059). The relationship between C-reactive protein and kidney stone history was not significant in the older age groups (40 to 59 and 60 years or greater). There exists a significant relationship between serum C-reactive protein and self-reported kidney stones in younger individuals. This may shed light on potential mechanisms of stone formation in this age group and help gain a better understanding of stone risk mediators. Further studies are needed to understand the mechanisms underlying these epidemiological findings.