Association between hypertension and kidney stones: a cross-sectional analysis from NHANES and Mendelian...

The association between hypertension and kidney stones remains inconsistent. This research investigated the relationship between hypertension and the risk and progression of kidney stones.

A cross-sectional analysis was performed using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The association was assessed with a multivariable logistic regression model. Furthermore, a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis was conducted to evaluate causality. Methods included inverse-variance weighted (IVW), weighted median, and sensitivity analyses. Summary-level data for kidney stones were obtained from the UK Biobank, and for hypertension from a genome-wide association study (GWAS)analysis.

The NHANES analysis included 21,740 participants. After full adjustment, hypertension was significantly associated with a higher prevalence of kidney stones (odds ratio [OR] = 1.36, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.19-1.56, p < 0.001). In the MR analysis, the IVW method indicated a causal effect of hypertension on kidney stones (OR = 1.01, 95% CI: 1.00-1.01, p = 0.013), supported by the weighted median method (OR = 1.01, 95% CI: 1.00-1.02, p = 0.002). Sensitivity analyses revealed no significant heterogeneity or pleiotropy.

Our investigation revealed a heightened risk of kidney stones linked to hypertension, which necessitates validation through further large-scale prospective cohort studies.