Lifestyle Factors and the Microbiome in Urolithiasis: A Narrative Review

Koudonas, Antonios; Tsiakaras, Stavros; Tzikoulis, Vasileios; Papaioannou, Maria; de la Rosette, Jean; Anastasiadis, Anastasios; Dimitriadis, Georgios

doi:10.3390/nu17030465

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Lifestyle Factors and the Microbiome in Urolithiasis: A Narrative Review

by

Antonios Koudonas

¹

,

Stavros Tsiakaras

¹,

Vasileios Tzikoulis

¹

,

Maria Papaioannou

^1,2,*

,

Jean de la Rosette

³

,

Anastasios Anastasiadis

¹

and

Georgios Dimitriadis

¹

First Department of Urology, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 541 24 Thessaloniki, Greece

²

Laboratory of Biological Chemistry, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 541 24 Thessaloniki, Greece

³

Department of Urology, Istanbul Medipol Mega University Hospital, 34810 Istanbul, Turkey

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Nutrients 2025, 17(3), 465; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17030465

Submission received: 31 December 2024 / Revised: 14 January 2025 / Accepted: 17 January 2025 / Published: 27 January 2025

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutritional Management in Kidney Disease)

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Abstract

Urolithiasis represents one of the most common urologic diseases, and its incidence demonstrates, globally, an increasing trend. The application of preventive measures is an established strategy to reduce urolithiasis-related morbidity, and it is based mostly on the adaptation of lifestyle factors and pharmacotherapy. Furthermore, other research areas demonstrate promising results, such as the research on the microbiome. In the current review, we searched for the latest data on lifestyle–based prevention and microbiome alterations in urolithiasis patients. The majority of the proposed lifestyle measures are already included in the urological guidelines, while additional factors, such as vitamin D supplementation, seem to have a putative positive effect. From the microbiome studies, several microbial composition patterns and metabolic pathways demonstrated an inhibiting or promoting role in lithogenesis. Up to the present, stone prevention has not shown satisfying results, which suggests that lifestyle measures are not adequate. Moreover, microbiome studies are prone to bias, since microbes are strongly affected by numerous clinical factors, while the analysis procedures are not standardized yet. Analysis standardization and data pooling from extensive registration of clinical and microbiome data are essential steps in order to improve the existing prevention strategy with targeted microbiome manipulations.

Keywords: urolithiasis; lithogenesis; prevention; lifestyle factors; microbiome

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MDPI and ACS Style

Koudonas, A.; Tsiakaras, S.; Tzikoulis, V.; Papaioannou, M.; de la Rosette, J.; Anastasiadis, A.; Dimitriadis, G. Lifestyle Factors and the Microbiome in Urolithiasis: A Narrative Review. Nutrients 2025, 17, 465. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17030465

AMA Style

Koudonas A, Tsiakaras S, Tzikoulis V, Papaioannou M, de la Rosette J, Anastasiadis A, Dimitriadis G. Lifestyle Factors and the Microbiome in Urolithiasis: A Narrative Review. Nutrients. 2025; 17(3):465. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17030465

Chicago/Turabian Style

Koudonas, Antonios, Stavros Tsiakaras, Vasileios Tzikoulis, Maria Papaioannou, Jean de la Rosette, Anastasios Anastasiadis, and Georgios Dimitriadis. 2025. "Lifestyle Factors and the Microbiome in Urolithiasis: A Narrative Review" Nutrients 17, no. 3: 465. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17030465

APA Style

Koudonas, A., Tsiakaras, S., Tzikoulis, V., Papaioannou, M., de la Rosette, J., Anastasiadis, A., & Dimitriadis, G. (2025). Lifestyle Factors and the Microbiome in Urolithiasis: A Narrative Review. Nutrients, 17(3), 465. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17030465

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Lifestyle Factors and the Microbiome in Urolithiasis: A Narrative Review

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