A bacterium with no known side-effects offers new hope for patients with recurring kidney stones. Identified as O formigenes, the bacterium was found to cut down up to 70 per cent of the risk associated with stones, which is fairly widespread in many countries, according to Boston University researchers, BBC reported.
Researchers collected data from 247 adult patients with recurrent kidney stones while O formigenes colonisation was determined by culture of stool samples.
"We observed a strong inverse association between colonisation with O formigenes and recurrent calcium oxalate kidney stones, and a 70 percent reduction in overall risk," said researcher David Kaufman. "Our findings are of potential clinical importance. The possibility of using the bacterium as a probiotic is currently in the early stages of investigation," he added. The findings of the study have been published in the online issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.