Nephrolithiasis: nutrition as cause or therapeutic tool

Nephrolithiasis is a very common disease with an increasing prevalence among industrialized populations. Kidney stone formation is a complex phenomenon, involving genetic and metabolic patterns, and nutrition can play an important role in this match both as a promoter or as a protective factor. To promote a deeper knowledge of such a challenging disease, clinicians and researchers have met in Rome, Italy, last March 2013, at the International Congress “Nephrolithiasis: a systemic disorder” to discuss patho-physiology and possible treatment of kidney stones. During the meeting, a whole session was dedicated to nutrition, seen both as a cause or a therapeutic tool for nephrolithiasis. Due to its etiopathogenesis, nephrolithiasis is also an ideal model for a nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics approach. Nutrigenomics and nutrigenetic respectively study the effects of a dietary treatment on gene expression and, on the other hand, the impact of an inherited trait on the response to a specific dietary treatment.