Abstract
A possible cause associated with urinary lithiasis (UL) is the bioaccumulation of heavy metals in the kidney. The aim of this study was to evaluate the content of Cu, Pb, and Cd in kidney tissues removed from patients with nephrological problems and associate it with UL. Samples of 50 kidney sections from patients were analyzed. Results were statistically analyzed using a fixed effects model including the overall mean, the effect of the health status of patients (with or without UL), gender (male and female), the interaction between both factors and the random error (NID (0, σ 2)). Cu level was 8.8 ± 4.4 mg/kg (mean ± DS) and 25.5% of samples had levels above normal. Lead content in 97.9% of the samples (3.6 ± 1.5 mg/kg) was above normal. All results of Cd (13.2 ± 16.6 mg/kg) were below the maximum permissible limits. There was no difference in the amount of heavy metals on patients with or without UL (P > 0.05) nor depending on the gender (P > 0.05). It was concluded that there is no apparent relationship between a very elevated level of Cu or Pb in the kidney on the development of UL.
Highlights
Urinary lithiasis (UL) is an endemic problem in Yucatan, affecting 5.5% of the population and ranks among the top three pathologies that cause kidney failure, after diabetes mellitus and hypertension [1]
In Yucatan, an average of 199 nephrectomies is performed per year, out of which 59.6% are related to UL and to a lesser extent related to tumors, malformations, and other syndromes; 15% of the total cases of nephrectomy are associated with diabetes mellitus and/or hypertension [5]
The importance of genetic factors on UL was revealed in a study in Yucatan [11] where UL due to hypocitraturia was the origin of 61.2% of the cases; this paper shows that the GG genotype polymorphism Ala62THr in the ZNF365 gene is associated with hypocitraturia; metabolic changes associated with polymorphisms in specific genes favor the formation of urinary calculi in the population of Yucatan
Summary
Urinary lithiasis (UL) is an endemic problem in Yucatan, affecting 5.5% of the population and ranks among the top three pathologies that cause kidney failure, after diabetes mellitus and hypertension [1]. This percentage is very high in relation to its prevalence in other states in Mexico, where UL is a low-frequency disease (0.24%) [2, 3]. The deterioration of renal function may be unilateral and in manycases induces nephrectomy. Among the most important causes that induce nephrectomy are hydronephrosis, tumors, and dysplasia. In Yucatan, an average of 199 nephrectomies is performed per year, out of which 59.6% are related to UL and to a lesser extent related to tumors, malformations, and other syndromes; 15% of the total cases of nephrectomy are associated with diabetes mellitus and/or hypertension [5]
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