ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Physiol.
Sec. Renal Physiology and Pathophysiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphys.2025.1612585
Comprehensive Biomarker Profiling Reveals Distinct Molecular Signatures Across Stone Types: A Large-scale Cross-sectional Study in Southern China
Provisionally accepted
- 1Yuebei People's Hospital, Shaoguan, China
- 2Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
- 3Guangzhou Orthopedic Hospital, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
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Stone diseases represent a significant global health burden affecting 10-15% of the population worldwide. Despite advances in diagnostic imaging, current approaches often lack the ability to predict stone formation or differentiate between stone types at early stages. METHODS: This retrospective study analyzed data from 61,310 stone patients and 55,010 matched controls using 1:1 propensity score matching. Stone cases were categorized into five major groups and further subdivided by organ system. Comprehensive serum biomarker profiling was conducted using automated biochemistry analyzers. RESULTS: Urinary system stones constituted the largest proportion (80.97%), followed by biliary system stones (21.12%). The study revealed distinct biomarker signatures: elevated serum creatinine and cystatin C in uric acid stones; increased PSA and monocyte counts in prostatic calculi; elevated β2-microglobulin and total bilirubin in common bile duct stones; and increased basophils, ceruloplasmin, ferritin, immunoglobulin-A, and rheumatoid factor in gallstones. CONCLUSIONS: This study represents the first comprehensive evaluation of stone-specific clinical biomarker patterns derived from routine laboratory parameters, providing potential diagnostic markers for different stone types and suggesting stone-specific pathophysiological mechanisms.
Keywords: stone disease, Urinary Calculi, biliary calculi, serum creatinine, Cystatin C, PSA, Monocytes, β2microglobulin
Received: 30 Apr 2025; Accepted: 26 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Huang, Wang, Wei, Lu, Han and Chang. 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: Zhenglin Chang, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
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