The serum levels and significance of MCSF, CF XIV, and IL-20 in patients with urinary calculi

Objective : To investigate the serum levels and significance of macrophage colony-stimulating factor (MCSF), coupling factor XIV (CF XIV), and interleukin 20 (IL-20) in patients who have urinary calculi. Methods : 100 cases of patients with urinary calculi were collected (the urinary calculi group). Another 100 healthy individuals were also enrolled to build the control group. The levels of MCSF, CF XIV, and IL-20 in serum of urinary calculi and control groups were compared. Patients with urinary calculi were divided into the calcium oxalate calculus, phosphate calculus, and uric acid calculus groups according to types of the calculus. Changes in the serum levels of each marker in each group were compared. Results : The levels of MCSF and IL-20 in the urinary calculi group were significantly higher, while the level of CF XIV was remarkable lower than those in control group ( P <0.05). Among 45 samples of urinary calculi, calcium oxalate calculi accounted for 48.9% of all cases. The level of MCSF were significantly increased in calcium oxalate calculi ( P <0.05), while the levels of CF XIV and IL-20 were significantly increased in phosphate and uric acid calculi ( P <0.05). Conclusions : The serum levels of MCSF, CF XIV, and IL-20 were significantly different between patients with urinary calculi and healthy subjects. The serum levels of these protein markers changed significantly in different calculi samples. The composition of calculi may be preliminarily predicted by the levels of these markers.