Vitamin D deficiency in smokers: A potential risk factor for kidney stone

Abstract

Abstract

Nephrolithiasis is a major cause of concern for the clinicians due to its growing incidents globally. However, the risk of developing kidney stone is high in case of smokers. The present study describes the plausible mechanisms smoking induced nephrolithiasis. Literature survey is done with tobacco smoking, kidney stone formation, vitamin D deficiency, and molecular mechanisms. PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Embase, Scopus are used to search articles up to March 2025. Peer reviewed full articles in English language are taken into consideration. Several reports claim that both active and passive smoking are involved in the vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D deficiency results in the elevation of calciuria followed by CaOx and CaP stone formation. It causes the activation of ROS-dependent signalling pathways and inflammation. These alterations lead to renal tubular epithelial cell injury. Vitamin D supplementation may be beneficial in this regard so that the normal level may be maintained.