Role of Osteoprotegerin as Novel Marker in Urinary Stone Formers: APilot Study

Background: urinary tract calculus formation can be prevented by identifying molecules and metabolic disturbances that a ect this process. osteoprotegerin (opg), a cytokine of the tnf receptor superfamily, has been demonstrated to mediate vascular cal-cification and intimal calcification. endothelial injury and oxidative stress are known to play a role in urolithiasis in the form of randall’s plaques.objectives: the present study aimed to compare 24-h urinary and serum opg levels of patients with and without urolithiasis. methods: in this case-control study, 24-h urinary levels of opg (pg/ml), serum levels of opg (pg/ml), and creatinine (mg/dl) were measured in both groups. urinary and serum levels of opg were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa) using human opg kits.results: mean serum creatinine was 0.86 ± 0.21 mg/dl in the case group and 0.77± 0.16 mg/dl in controls. the di erence in the mean serum opg levels between the cases (227.13 ± 98.02 pg/ml) and controls (47.28 ± 29.61 pg/ml) was highly significant (p value < 0.0001). the di erence in the mean 24-h urinary opg levels between the cases (156.12 ± 174.31 pg/ml) and controls (9.32 ± 23.72 pg/ml) was highly significant (p value < 0.001).conclusions: there were significantly higher levels of opg in serum and 24-h urine samples of cases than in controls. hence, it requires further large studies to make opg a diagnostic and prognostic marker.