2bRAD-M Reveals the Characteristics of Urinary Microbiota in Overweight Patients with Urinary Tract Stones.

Urinary tract stone (UTS) is a common disease significantly impacting human health. Obesity influences stone formation and increases UTS incidence, yet the differences in the urinary microbiota and pathways between overweight and healthy-weight UTS patients remain unclear. In this study, 16 patients were analyzed: 8 overweight and 8 healthy-weight UTS patients. Bladder urine samples were collected during surgery, and DNA was extracted for microbial analysis using 2bRAD markers. Microbial diversity and KEGG pathway differences were studied. The results showed that overweight UTS patients had a significantly higher urinary microbial diversity than healthy-weight patients. The analysis identified differences in microbiota at various taxonomic levels. LEfSe analysis revealed as abundant in overweight patients, while dominated in healthy-weight patients. Key species, including , , and , were identified. KEGG analysis highlighted enriched pathways in overweight UTS patients, including the porphyrin and chlorophyll metabolism, fatty acid metabolism, amino acid degradation, and renin-angiotensin and mineral absorption pathways. This study is the first to use 2bRAD-M microbiome analysis to compare the urinary microbiota between overweight and healthy-weight UTS patients. It identified significant microbiota and pathway differences, suggesting a link between microbiota imbalance, obesity, and stone formation. These findings provide potential targets for further research on obesity-related stone susceptibility mechanisms.