1. The demonstration of an inheritable anomaly of erythrocyte oxalate transport in 'primary' calcium nephrolithiasis suggested that this disease might be a generalized metabolic disorder characterized by a defect in cellular anion transport. 2. To determine whether this anomaly is restricted to oxalate alone, we studied erythrocyte transmembrane urate self-exchange in calcium-oxalate renal ston...

BACKGROUND Crystallographic composition of urinary tract stone varies in several chemical groups and determines the degree of fragmentation to extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) which has been widely used for the treatment of renal and ureteral calculi. Visual prediction of stone composition by its morphology from plain radiograph may provide a simple method and clinical hint to decid...

BACKGROUND We have biopsied the renal cortex and papillae of patients who form brushite renal stones asking if this unusual stone type is associated with specific tissue changes. We contrasted these with biopsies of 15 calcium oxalate stone formers, three stone formers with intestinal bypass, and four normal subjects. METHODS We studied all ten brushite stone formers treated with percutaneous...

BACKGROUND Calcium nephrolithiasis is a multifactorial disease with a polygenic milieu. Association studies identified genetic polymorphisms potentially implicated in the pathogenesis of calcium nephrolithiasis. The present article reviews the mechanisms of calcium stone formation and the potential contribution of gene polymorphisms to lithogenic mechanisms. SUMMARY Endoscopy observations sug...

Interstitial Randall's plaques and collecting duct plugs are distinct forms of renal calcification thought to provide sites for stone retention within the kidney. Here we assessed kidney stone precursor lesions in a random cohort of stone formers undergoing percutaneous nephrolithotomy. Each accessible papilla was endoscopically mapped following stone removal. The percent papillary surface area...

Calcium nephrolithiasis in children is increasing in prevalence and tends to be recurrent. Although children have a lower incidence of nephrolithiasis than adults, its etiology in children is less well understood; hence, treatments targeted for adults may not be optimal in children. To better understand metabolic abnormalities in stone-forming children, we compared chemical measurements and the...

Iroko trees ( Milicia excelsa ) in Ivory Coast and Cameroon are unusual because of their highly biomineralized tissues, which can virtually transform the trunk into stone. Oxalic acid (C 2 O 4 H 2 ) and metal-oxalate play important roles in their ecosystems. In this study, the various forms of oxalate and carbonate mineralization reactions are investigated by using scanning electron microscopy ...

OBJECTIVES The diversity of experimental results obtained in the study of the effect of citrus juice on urinary lithogenicity moved us to study the effect of these substances in vitro and in-vivo. The in-vitro study is based on the turbidimetric method on calcium oxalate crystallization. In vivo, we studied the effect of lemon juice consumption on urinary chemistry and we tested it on calcium o...

Renal stones have afflicted humans for millennia but there is still no solution to this problem. This review discusses the laboratory and metabolic aspects of the clinical management of patients with renal stones, both primary and secondary in origin. First, non-pharmacological interventions such as increased fluid intake, decreased protein consumption, dietary changes in sodium, calcium, oxala...

Most kidney stones are composed primarily of calcium oxalate. Oxalobacter formigenes is a Gram-negative, anaerobic bacterium that metabolizes oxalate in the intestinal tract and is present in a large proportion of the normal adult population. It was hypothesized that the absence of O. formigenes could lead to increased colonic absorption of oxalate, and the subsequent increase in urinary oxalat...