Genetic study suggests a link between osteoporosis and kidney stones
Genetic susceptibility to osteoporosis was linked to kidney stones, with an effect estimate of 0.211 using Japanese genetic variants and Taiwanese outcome data.
159,138 participants
Limit: Health benefits of kidney stone screening in people with osteoporosis were not measured
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
A Mendelian randomization analysis examined genetic data from people with and without osteoporosis or kidney stones in Taiwan Biobank and BioBank Japan. Osteoporosis is a condition that weakens bones. Taiwan Biobank contributed 14,507 osteoporosis cases and 79,846 controls, plus 6,318 kidney stone cases and 88,035 controls. BioBank Japan contributed 9,794 osteoporosis cases and 159,138 controls, plus 11,699 kidney stone cases and 155,328 controls.
The researchers used inherited genetic differences associated with each condition to examine links in both directions. Genetic variants linked to osteoporosis in the Japanese data were associated with kidney stones in the Taiwanese data. Reverse analyses found no statistically significant association between genetic susceptibility to kidney stones and osteoporosis in either pairing of the datasets.
Why it matters
Osteoporosis is an age-related bone disease. The authors suggested that people with the condition may represent a high-risk group warranting screening for urinary tract stones.
Caveats
This genetic analysis provided suggestive evidence, not proof of cause and effect. It did not test whether screening people with osteoporosis improved health.
The paper
Osteoporosis causes Nephrolithiasis: A Bidirectional Two-sample Mendelian Randomization Study
American Journal of Nephrology, Oct 22, 2026
