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The following is a summary of “Self-control study of multi-omics in identification of microenvironment characteristics in calcium oxalate kidney stones,” published in the February 2025 issue of BMC Nephrology by Xu et al. 

Researchers conducted a retrospective study analyzing proteomics and metabolomics in bilateral renal pelvis urine of patients with unilateral calcium oxalate kidney stones. 

They collected bilateral renal pelvis urine samples using cystoscopy-guided ureteral catheters. They identified differential proteins and metabolites through Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). They analyzed differentially expressed proteins and metabolites using Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), Reactome, and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis. 

This study included 8 patients with unilateral kidney stones, from whom bilateral renal pelvis urine was collected. LC-MS/MS identified 4,623 proteins, with 4,584 in the control group and 4,486 in the stone group. Using FC >1.5 or <0.67 and P <0.05, 40 differential proteins were identified, including 36 upregulated and 4 downregulated in stone-affected urine. Additionally, 10 differential metabolites were upregulated. Functional and pathway analyses linked these proteins to inflammatory pathways and coagulation cascades, while metabolites were associated with oxidative stress, highlighting key alterations in the urinary microenvironment. 

Investigators found that the proteomic and metabolomic profiles of the urinary microenvironment in stone-affected kidneys reflected the pathophysiological mechanisms of stone formation and development. 

Source:bmcnephrol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12882-025-04026-1