28 Jan UCLA Study Finds Bacteria May Help Drive Some Kidney Stone Formation
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Scotland
Kymora B. Scotland MD, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Urology
UCLA
Gerard Wong PhD, Professor
Bioengineering Dept., Chemistry & Biochemistry Dept., Microbiology, Immunology, & Molecular Genetics Dept.
California NanoSystems Institute
UCLA Los Angeles, CA
MedicalResearch.com: What is thebackground for this study?
Response: Because of Dr. Scotland’s clinical work taking care of patients with kidney stones, we noticed that sometimes patients with no history of urinary tract injections would develop UTIs or even sepsis after stone surgery. Similarly, when we cultured the stones obtained from surgical procedures – again in patients without a history of UTIs- we would often identify bacteria. This led us to hypothesize that bacteria actually play a role in stone formation and were not just bystanders occasionally found in the kidney.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?
Response: In this manuscript, we were able to extract bacteria from stones and show that the bacteria were alive.
- The bacteria also form communities called biofilms. We believe that biofilm components such as their extracellular DNA promote the organization of calcium so that it is easier to form calcium oxalate crystals, which comprise 70% of all stones.
- Our study findings were certainly unexpected since calcium-based stones have traditionally not been thought to be due to the activity of bacteria at all.
MedicalResearch.com: Are the bacteria ones commonly found in UTIs i.e. E. coli?
Response: Yes. We have identified bacteria commonly found in UTIs such as E. coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. For this reason, we believe our findings have implications for the treatment of urinary tract infections (UTIs )as well as kidney stones.
MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?
- Bacteria may play a role in driving kidney stone formation.
- We believe that these bacteria can also account for the recurrent infections often seen in patients with kidney stones and are hoping to demonstrate this with ongoing studies.
- This opens up new areas for stone treatment since bacteria and biofilm components are now potential targets for stone prevention.
MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a results of this study?
- We are currently performing studies evaluating the mechanism via which bacteria are influencing stone growth so that we can best develop targeted treatments for calcium stone formers who make up the overwhelming majority of people with kidney stones.
- The other pressing question is the relationship between stone formation and recurrent urinary tract infections, which we are actively studying.
Disclosures: This work would not have been possible without funding from NIH and NSF.
Citation:
W.C. Schmidt, A. Mousavi, J. Li, R. Yang, G. Gonzalez Marin, H.L. Schreiber, R.E.S. Hammann, C.L.P. Obernuefemann, K. Bergeron, A. Klim, D. Wong, K. Du, S.J. Hultgren, Q. Chen, A. Celestian, G.C.L. Wong, & K.B. Scotland, Intercalated bacterial biofilms are intrinsic internal components of calcium-based kidney stones, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 123 (5) e2517066123, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2517066123 (2026).
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Last Updated on January 28, 2026 by Marie Benz MD FAAD