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Coffee and Caffeine Consumption and Risk of Kidney Stones: A Mendelian Randomization Study.
Shuai Yuan1, Susanna C Larsson2
1Unit of Cardiovascular and Nutritional Epidemiology, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Summary
Higher coffee and caffeine intake may reduce kidney stone risk. This Mendelian randomization study provides genetic evidence supporting a causal link between coffee and caffeine consumption and lower odds of developing kidney stones.
Area of Science:
- Nephrology and Urology
- Nutritional Epidemiology
- Genetic Epidemiology
Background:
- Observational studies suggest coffee and caffeine consumption are linked to reduced kidney stone risk.
- The causal nature of this association requires further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the causal relationship between coffee and caffeine consumption and the risk of kidney stones using Mendelian randomization.
- To leverage genetic variants as instrumental variables for coffee and caffeine intake.
Main Methods:
- A Mendelian randomization analysis was performed using genetic variants associated with coffee and caffeine consumption.
- Summary-level data on kidney stones were obtained from the UK Biobank and FinnGen consortium.
- Fixed-effects meta-analysis was used to combine estimates from both sources.
Main Results:
- Genetically predicted higher coffee consumption was associated with a significantly lower risk of kidney stones (OR=0.60, P < 0.001).
- Genetically predicted higher caffeine consumption was also associated with a reduced risk of kidney stones (OR=0.81, P = 0.005).
- Associations were directionally consistent across both UK Biobank and FinnGen datasets.
Conclusions:
- This study provides genetic evidence suggesting that higher coffee and caffeine consumption may causally reduce the risk of kidney stones.
- Findings support a protective role of coffee and caffeine against kidney stone formation.
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