The causal relationship between circulating micronutrients and urolithiasis: a Mendelian randomization study

Objective Previous epidemiological and experimental studies have yielded conflicting results regarding the impact of human micronutrient levels on the risk of urolithiasis. In our study, we conducted two sample Mendelian randomization (2SMR) and multivariable Mendelian randomization (MVMR) surveys to explore the association between 15 human micronutrients (copper, calcium, carotene, folic acid, iron, magnesium, potassium, selenium, zinc, vitamin A, vitamin B12, vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin D, and vitamin E) and genetic susceptibility to urolithiasis. Method Fifteen instrumental variables (IVs) for micronutrients were selected from published genome-wide association studies (GWAS). After selecting the appropriate IVs, we conducted an MR study using the inverse variance weighting (IVW) method as our primary estimation tool, using sensitivity analyses to judge heterogeneity, pleiotropy and leave-one-out sensitivity analyses. Result Our study found that genetic susceptibility to elevated vitamin D levels reduced the risk of developing Calculus of kidney and ureter; The genetic susceptibility to elevated vitamin C concentration increases the risk of developing Calculus of lower urinary tract. However, there was no statistically significant association between the other 13 micronutrients and the risk of urinary stones. Conclusion Vitamin D may have a protective effect on the occurrence of Calculus of kidney and ureter; Vitamin C may have a harmful effect on the occurrence of Calculus of lower urinary tract.