Vitamin D and calcium kidney stones: a review and a proposal

Abstract

Urolithiasis is a common, highly recurrent disease with increasing prevalence worldwide. The association between vitamin D and calcium stones has often been investigated on the basis of the role of vitamin D in calcium homeostasis. Currently, there is no consensus on the management of vitamin D deficiency in patients with renal calculi, because of controversies about the relationship between vitamin D and calcium stones. However, the vitamin D deficiency is shown to be highly prevalent among kidney stone formers, and some studies found a higher prevalence in stone formers compared with non-stone formers. This article attempts to review the relationship between calcium stones and vitamin D, and propose a mechanism for the association between vitamin D deficiency and calcium-based calculi according to the substantial role of inflammation and oxidative stress in calcium stone formation and also the pro-inflammatory effect of vitamin D deficiency.