Removing genetic effects from plasma proteins is an effective strategy to increase power for biomarker discovery and clinical trial design, consistent with the largely non-causal role of most plasma proteins in disease risk.

👏 Lead by Daniela Fusco and Zhiyu Yang

⏰Maybe, if #DollyParton is anything to go by, working 9-5 is a risk factor to investigate….!

🔮Hopefully her treatments are smooth and her fame raises awareness of a common disease with a high burden on patients and health systems that we need to understand better.

With colleagues at @uofglasgow.bsky.social & @ndsurgicalsci.bsky.social I aim to understand more about factors affecting the Lithogenic Triad.

💡More information will let us:

🩺Treat people with stones better
🔍Identify which patients are at high risk of more stones
🛑Prevent new stones forming

We know common genetic changes in calcium, phosphate, & vitamin D pathways increase risk of stones doi.org/10.1172/JCI1.... This can change urine composition.

We know obesity causes stones but are not yet sure why doi.org/10.1681/asn..... Obesity might affect any part of the Lithogenic Triad.

I believe that three kinds of changes can increase the risk of stones forming:

A *Lithogenic Triad* of:

1. Changes in urine composition
2. Changes in urine flow
3. Changes in kidney tubule wall composition

📚This is the topic of my research.
💎Stones affect ~20% people and half will get another within 5-10 years.

🧬Some risk is from common genetic changes.
💦Some risk is lifestyle (hydration, diet, obesity).

🔬If we can understand more about causes of stones, we can make treatments to prevent them.