Vitamin D status in patients with recurrent kidney stones

Abstract

Data regarding the prevalence of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) insufficiency in patients with nephrolithiasis, and the effects of vitamin D supplementation on parathyroid hormone (PTH) are few and conflicting. In this article, we examined the prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency in 236 recurrent kidney stone formers and the correlation of vitamin D levels with other parameters of stone formation. The prevalent stone composition was calcium oxalate (80.4%) and uric acid (16.45%). One third of stone formers had vitamin D insufficiency and a quarter of them high PTH levels (PTH >7.5 pmol/l) with normal serum (total and ionized) calcium values. Predictor of high PTH was low 25(OH)D level (r = 0.989, r(2) = 0.977, p < 0.001). Stone formers with hypercalciuria had higher 25(OH)D values (72.26 ± 4.21 vs. 59.29 ± 1.76, p = 0.0013) compared to stone formers with urine calcium within normal ranges. Further studies are needed in order to better define the consequences of vitamin D insufficiency and to evaluate the impact of the therapeutic interventions in this cohort.