Protective cellular mechanism of estrogen against kidney stone formation: A proteomics approach and functional validation

Kidney stone disease is influenced by multiple factors, including but not limited to age, gender, genetic background, hydration status, diet and drug. Regarding the gender, epidemiologic data across the world has shown that females at the reproductive age (15-49 years) have lower incidence/prevalence of kidney stone disease approximately 1.5-2.5 folds as compared to males at the same age. However, this gap is narrower in the postmenopausal age, whereas the postmenopausal females with higher serum estrogen levels are less likely to have kidney stones. Furthermore, female stone formers (patients with kidney stones) are associated with lower estrogen levels. Therefore, estrogen has been proposed to serve as the protective hormone against kidney stone disease. However, the precise mechanisms underlying such protective effects of estrogen remain unclear and require further investigations. This study thus investigated the effects of estradiol (which is the most prevalent and potent form of estrogen in females at the reproductive age) on cellular proteome of renal tubular cells using a proteomics approach.