REVIEW article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microorganisms in Vertebrate Digestive Systems
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1655808
This article is part of the Research TopicThe Role of Gut Microbes and Their Metabolites in Metabolic Diseases: Mechanisms and Therapeutic TargetsView all 20 articles
The Gut-Kidney Axis in Urolithiasis: Roles of 1 Gut Microbiota, Metabolites, and 2 Therapeutic Implications 3
Provisionally accepted
- 1Third People's Hospital of Baiyin City, Baiyin, China
- 2Affiliated Hospital of Gansu University of Chinese Medicine, Lanzhou, China
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Urolithiasis affects 2–20% of the global population and recurs frequently. Emerging evidence 11 positions the gut–kidney axis as a central driver of stone formation. This review synthesizes 12 epidemiological data, comparative metagenomic analyses, and mechanistic studies to demonstrate 13 that stone formers exhibit reduced α-diversity, depletion of oxalate-degrading taxa (e.g., Oxalobacter, 14 Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium), and enrichment of pro-inflammatory genera (Escherichia, 15 Bacteroides). Microbial metabolites—oxalate, short-chain fatty acids, p-cresol, and secondary bile 16 acids—modulate intestinal oxalate transport, systemic inflammation, and renal crystal nucleation. 17 Therapeutic modulation via targeted probiotics, prebiotics, engineered Lactobacillus, or fecal 18 microbiota transplantation restores oxalate homeostasis and attenuates nephrolithiasis in rodent 19 models; however, human efficacy remains preliminary. Large-scale multi-omics cohorts and 20 randomized controlled intervention trials are imperative to translate gut-centric strategies into 21 precision urology.
Keywords: gut-kidney axis, Urolithiasis, Gut Microbiota, oxalate metabolism, Short-Chain FattyAcids, Probiotics, Prebiotics, fecal microbiota transplantation
Received: 14 Jul 2025; Accepted: 22 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Li and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Wei Liu, 527794673@qq.com
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