Relationship between C-reactive Protein and Kidney Stone Prevalence

Purpose: We evaluated the relationship between serum C-reactive protein and the lifetime kidney stone prevalence. Materials and Methods: 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. Results: 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). Conclusions: 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.