Sulfur microbial diet ups CKD risk

Adherence to sulfur microbial diet (SMD) appears to increase the risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD), irrespective of genetic risk, suggests a study.

A total of 98,491 UK Biobank participants who had completed at least two 24-h dietary recall measurements were included in the analysis. The authors computed the SMD scores by summing the product of β-coefficients for each food group and their corresponding intake values. They identified CKD using UK Biobank algorithms.

The polygenic risk score (PRS) for CKD was constructed using 263 single-nucleotide polymorphisms. Finally, Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) with 95 percent confidence intervals (CIs) and population attributable fractions (PAFs).

Incident CKD reached a total number of 2,032 cases during a median follow-up of 9.38 years. A dose-response association was observed between the SMD score and increased CKD risk (p=0.78 for nonlinearity). Participants in the highest SMD score tertile had a significantly greater risk of CKD than those in the lowest tertile (HR, 1.24, 95 percent CI, 1.11–1.39; PAF, 6.81, 95 percent CI, 3.29–10.34).

Significant multiplicative or additive interactions were not observed between PRS and the SMD score (p>0.05 for all). The positive associations between the SMD and CKD risk were similar across low or high genetic risk groups.

“Future studies are needed to validate our findings,” the authors said.