Gut microbiome and kidney stone disease: not just an Oxalobacter story

Intestinal regulation of oxalate absorption is a complex mechanism, not exclusively reliant on the oxalate-degrading anaerobe Oxalobacter formigenes. Using metagenomics, Miller et al. were able to describe a network of bacterial taxa co-occurring with Oxalobacter formigenes in fecal samples from non-stone forming controls and less represented in stone formers. These findings may help to illuminate why previous intervention studies with probiotics have failed to reduce the risk of hyperoxaluria, opening new possibilities for future research.