ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutritional Epidemiology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1611656
Comprehensive Dietary Patterns Explain Acquired Cystic Kidney Disease Risk through Genetic and Metabolomic Mechanisms
Provisionally accepted
Chenhao Xu1Junjie Zhao1
Kan Wu1
Shengzhuo Liu1
FAN Zhang1
Qin CAO2Zhouwei Wan Phd1Yongquan Tang1
Zhihong Liu1Hao Zeng1Xianding Wang1
Jiayu Liang1*- 1Department of Urology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
- 2School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong Region, China
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Background Acquired renal cysts (ARC) are associated with kidney function decline, necessitating novel dietary pattern (DP) analyses in large cohorts. Methods This UK Biobank prospective cohort study (2006 – 2010) included participants with ≥2 dietary records, excluding those with severe kidney damage. The constructed comprehensive dietary pattern integration (CDPI) utilized reduced rank regression (RRR) and latent profile analysis (LPA). ARC cases (ICD-10: N28.1) were assessed via Cox regression for risk and dose-response, with NMR metabolites examined as mediators. Results Among 119,709 participants (median follow-up: 10.57 years), 850 ARC cases were identified. Lipid-rich and hyperglycemic diets increased ARC risk (e.g., HRs for G1.DP1: 1.080 [1.024, 1.139]; G1.DP2: 1.144 [1.048, 1.249]), while micronutrient-rich diets showed weak protective effects (G4.DP1: 0.943 [0.892, 0.998]). LPA confirmed RRR findings, and 7/251 NMR metabolites had significant mediating effects. Conclusions Diets high in fat (cheese, butter, pizza) and sugar (chocolate, sugary drinks) elevated ARC risk, whereas micronutrient-and fiber-rich diets (vegetables, fruit, lean poultry, nuts, eggs) were protective. Key mediators included branched-chain amino acids, IGF-1, and RBC distribution width.
Keywords: renal cyst, Diet, Reduced rank regression, Kidney function, CDPI
Received: 14 Apr 2025; Accepted: 09 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Xu, Zhao, Wu, Liu, Zhang, CAO, Phd, Tang, Liu, Zeng, Wang and Liang. 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: Jiayu Liang, jiayu.liang@scu.edu.cn
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