A study of association between metabolic syndrome and nephrolithiasis

Introduction: Introduction: Metabolic syndrome is a complex of medical disorders; when they occur together have clinical significance like increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular accidents, diabetes mellitus (type two) and atherosclerosis. There are different definitions for defining metabolic syndrome and they all include the main components – obesity or waist circumference, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and hyperglycemia. The associations of metabolic syndrome with nephrolithiasis were showed by many studies in a defined population. The exact patho-physiology of this association was not clear, but shown to be associated with metabolic syndrome patient’s urinary constituents like decrease in urinary PH, increased urinary calcium and uric acid excretion and decreased excretion of urinary citrate which is an important inhibitor of nephrolithiasis. We investigate this association in patient population in our institute with nephrolithiasis and compare with individuals without nephrolithiasis. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in institute of urology, Madras Medical College, Chennai. The study was prospective study conducted from March 2012 to February 2013. Patients with unilateral or bilateral renal calculus was included as cases and individuals without renal calculus was included as controls. Results and Observations: The Mean age group of control (Group 2) was 35.62 + 10.99 years. The mean age group of cases (Group 1) was 38.25+9.67 years. In Group 1 (cases) there were 47 females and 53 males. In Group 2 (controls) there were 48 females and 52 males. The components of metabolic syndrome were waist circumference, blood pressure, fasting blood sugar, serum triglycerides and serum high density lipoprotein. Each component of the metabolic syndrome was compared between cases (Group 1) and control (Group 2) Conclusion • Metabolic syndrome is significantly associated with nephrolithiasis • Of the components of metabolic syndrome a statistically significant association with nephrolithiasis is noted for increased waist circumference and hypertension. • In the present study the other three components of metabolic syndrome namely diabetes mellitus, increased serum triglycerides and decreased serum HDL were found to be statistically insignificant with regard to nephrolithiasis