Identifying therapeutic targets for kidney stone disease through proteome-wide Mendelian randomization and colocalization analysis

Abstract

Kidney stone disease (KSD) is facing rising global prevalence and recurrence rates. Mendelian randomization aids in drug repurposing and the discovery of therapeutic targets. This study utilized Mendelian randomization (MR) to identify protein targets for KSD treatment and assess potential adverse drug reactions. A proteome-wide MR study assessed plasma proteins' causal relationship with KSD risk. Data from UK Biobank Proteomics Profiling Project (2940 proteins) and FinnGen R10 for KSD (10,556 cases, 400,681 controls) were analyzed. Colocalization analysis identified shared causal variants. Additionally, a Phenome-wide association study (PheWAS) used the FinnGen to explore adverse reactions of druggable proteins. MR study found ITIH4, F12, FKBPL positively correlated with KSD risk, while DAG1, ITIH1, LTB, CACYBP negatively correlated (Pfdr < 0.05). Colocalization analysis and PheWAS identified CACYBP as the most promising druggable protein for the prevention or treatment of nephrolithiasis recurrence. This study identified genetic protein biomarkers for KSD risk and explored potential drug side effects, offering new insights and targets for prevention and treatment.

Keywords: Drug target; Kidney stone disease; Mendelian randomization; Phenome-wide association study; Plasma proteins.