Association between oxidative balance score, genetic susceptibility and nephrolithiasis: a cohort study based on the...

The Oxidative Balance Score (OBS) is a tool to evaluate the balance of oxidative and antioxidative factors from diet and lifestyle. We aim to explore the association between OBS and the incidence of nephrolithiasis and investigate whether genetic predisposition exerts a modifying effect on this association.

A total of 146,055 participants were derived from the UK Biobank without nephrolithiasis at baseline. OBS was calculated based on 13 dietary components and 5 lifestyle components. 20 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were selected to generate a polygenic risk score (PRS) for genetic susceptibility. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to assess the associations between OBS and the incidence of nephrolithiasis. The modifying effect of PRS was also investigated.

During a mean follow-up period of 9.91 years, a total of 1,076 incident cases of nephrolithiasis were documented. After adjustment for multiple covariates, the risk of nephrolithiasis in the highest OBS quintile group decreased by 23% (HR = 0.77, 95% CI 0.63, 0.95). The negative association between OBS and nephrolithiasis was more pronounced among participants with lower genetic susceptibility. In this subgroup, participants in the highest OBS quintile had a 33% lower risk of incident nephrolithiasis compared with those in the lowest OBS quintile (HR = 0.67, 95% CI 0.49-0.91). Multiplicative interaction between OBS and genetic susceptibility was significant (P for interaction = 0.02).

Our study demonstrated a negative association between OBS and the incidence of nephrolithiasis, and the protective effect was more pronounced among individuals with low genetic susceptibility.