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Association of body mass index and urine pH in patients with urolithiasis

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Abstract

Increase in body size increases the risk of renal stone formation. The mechanism explaining this relationship remains unclear. Urine pH is one of the important factors for urinary stone formation. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is an association between urine pH and body mass index (BMI) in patients with urolithiasis. Medical charts review that included 342 urinary stone formers (248 men and 94 women). Data obtained included patient sex, age, BMI, urine pH at diagnosis, and stone composition. The patients were classified as normal weight (18.5 ≤ BMI < 24), overweight (24 ≤ BMI < 27), or obese (BMI ≥ 27). The mean urine pH of the normal body weight, overweight, and obese groups was 6.25, 6.14, and 6.00, respectively (P < 0.05). Urine pH is inversely related to BMI among patients with urolithiasis. Among patients with urolithiasis, higher BMI will have lower urine pH. This may explain why obesity is associated with an increased risk of nephrolithiasis. Weight loss should be explored as a potential treatment to prevent kidney stone formation. The prevention of urinary stone disease gives clinicians an additional reason to encourage weight reduction through diet.

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Acknowledgments

The study was supported by grants from The Bureau of Health, The Kaohsiung City Government. The authors thank Miss Hsing-Hsu for assistance of manuscript preparation. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Urology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, No. 100, Tzyou 1st Road, Kaohsiung, 807, Taiwan

    Wei-Ming Li, Yii-Her Chou, Ching-Chia Li, Chia-Chu Liu, Shu-Pin Huang, Wen-Jeng Wu, Mei-Hui Lee & Chun-Hsiung Huang

  2. Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

    Yii-Her Chou, Ching-Chia Li, Shu-Pin Huang, Wen-Jeng Wu & Chun-Hsiung Huang

  3. Department of Urology, Kaohsiung Municipal Min-Sheng Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

    Chi-Wen Chen & Chien-Yu Su

  4. Department of Pathology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital-Kaohsiung Medical Center, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

    Yu-Ching Wei

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  1. Wei-Ming Li
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Correspondence to Yii-Her Chou.

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Li, WM., Chou, YH., Li, CC. et al. Association of body mass index and urine pH in patients with urolithiasis. Urol Res 37, 193–196 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00240-009-0194-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00240-009-0194-4

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