PPIs use may lead to kidney stone formation, finds study

USA: The use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) -- medications widely used for stomach acid suppression -- can increase the risk of kidney stones, according to a recent study in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Further, the use of histamine-2 receptor antagonists (H2RA) was also found to be associated with kidney stones risk, suggesting that acid suppression might be an involved mechanism. 

PPIs are widely prescribed medications and impacts urinary ion concentrations and gut ion absorption. Therefore, PPIs might contribute to or protect against the development of kidney stones. Michael Simonov, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, and colleagues investigated the association between PPI use and kidney stones by conducting a retrospective study. 

They used data from the Women's Veteran's Cohort Study that comprised of men and women from October 1, 1999, through September 30, 2017. Data was collected from 465,891 patients on PPI usage over time, demographics, laboratory results, comorbidities, and medication usage. The risk of PPI use and incident development of kidney stones was determined using time-varying Cox proportional hazards and propensity matching analyses. The use of histamine-2 receptor antagonists (H2RAs) was measured and levothyroxine use was a negative control exposure.