Abstract
BackgroundThe dogma that urine is sterile in healthy individuals has been overturned by recent studies applying molecular-based methods. Mounting evidences indicate that dysbiosis of the urinary microbiota is associated with several urological diseases. In this study, we aimed to investigate the urinary microbiome of male patients with calcium-based kidney stones and compare it with those of healthy individuals.ResultsThe diversity of the urinary microbiota in kidney stone patients was significantly lower than that of healthy controls based on the Shannon and Simpson index (P < 0.001 for both indices). The urinary microbiota structure also significantly differed between kidney stone patients and healthy controls (ANOSIM, R = 0.11, P < 0.001). Differential representation of inflammation associated bacteria (e.g., Acinetobacter) and several enriched functional pathways were identified in the urine of kidney stones patients. Meanwhile, we found the species diversity, overall composition of microbiota and predicted functional pathways were similar between bladder urine and renal pelvis urine in kidney stone patients.ConclusionsA marked dysbiosis of urinary microbiota in male patients with calcium-based kidney stones was observed, which may be helpful to interpret the association between bacteria and calcium-based kidney stones.
Highlights
The dogma that urine is sterile in healthy individuals has been overturned by recent studies applying molecular-based methods
The aim of our research was to (1) determine if the microbiome of bladder urine is significantly different between kidney stone formers and healthy individuals; (2) determine if the microbiome of bladder urine is distinct from that of renal pelvis urine in nephrolithiasis patients. (3) predict functional pathways that significantly enriched in the urinary microbiome of kidney stone formers
In conclusion, our study revealed distinct urinary microbiota in male kidney stone patients compared to healthy individuals, and similar microbiota between bladder urine and renal pelvis urine
Summary
The dogma that urine is sterile in healthy individuals has been overturned by recent studies applying molecular-based methods. We aimed to investigate the urinary microbiome of male patients with calcium-based kidney stones and compare it with those of healthy individuals. In the past few years, the role of gut microbiome on urine oxalate excretion and kidney stone formation has been a hot issue. Study identified distinct gut microbiome and enrichment of oxalate metabolizing bacterial species in nephrolithiasis patients [8]. Oxalobacter formigenes, an oxalate degradation bacterium, was reported to be negatively associated with urinary stones and reduce urinary oxalate excretion when administered orally as a probiotic [9]. Despite the promising preliminary data, further studies showed contradictions as to the colonization rate of O. formigenes, Xie et al BMC Microbiology (2020) 20:41 ranging from 0 to 100% in kidney stone formers and 11–100% in individuals with no history of nephrolithiasis [10]. Trials designed to degrade urinary oxalate with probiotics containing O. formigenes have been disappointing so far [11]
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