Biomineralogy of human urinary calculi (kidney stones) from some geographic regions of Sri Lanka

Abstract

Kidney stones (urinary calculi) have become a global scourge since it has been recognized as one of the most painful medical problems. Primary causative factors for the formation of these stones are not clearly understood, though they are suspected to have a direct relationship to the composition of urine, which is mainly governed by diet and drinking water. Sixty nine urinary calculi samples which were collected from stone removal surgeries were analyzed chemically for their Na, K, Ca, Mg, Cu, Zn, Pb, Fe and phosphate contents. Structural and mineralogical properties of stones were studied by XRD and FT-IR methods. The mean contents of trace elements were 1348 mg kg(-1) (Na); 294 mg kg(-1) (K); 32% (Ca); 1426 mg kg(-1) (Mg); 8.39 mg kg(-1) (Mn); 258 mg kg(-1) (Fe); 67 mg kg(-1) (Cu); 675 mg kg(-1) (Zn); 69 mg kg(-1) (Pb); and 1.93% (PO (4) (3-) ). The major crystalline constituent in the calculi of Sri Lanka is calcium oxalate monohydrate. Principal component analysis was used to identify the multi element relationships in kidney stones. Three components were extracted and the first component represents positively correlated Na-K-Mg-PO (4) (3-) whereas the second components represent the larger positively weighted Fe-Cu-Pb. Ca-Zn correlated positively in the third component in which Mn-Cu correlated negatively. This study indicates that during the crystallization of human urinary stones, Ca shows more affinity towards oxalates whereas other alkali and alkaline earths precipitate with phosphates.

Structural and microstructural characterization of human kidney stones from eastern India using IR spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, thermal study and X-ray Rietveld analysis

“…The quantitative phase analysis of KS5, KS6 (Fig. 4) and KS7 showed varying amounts (1.9-17.3 wt%) of the APP phase along with the COM phase (82.7-98.1 wt%), and that of KS8 ( urinary calculi samples KS1-KS8 are in good agreement with the composition of kidney stones from patients in other parts of the Indian subcontinent (Ansari et al, 2005;Satish et al, 2008;Chandrajith et al, 2006).…”

“…(APP), Ca 10 (PO 4 ) 6 (OH) 2 ] and uric acid (UA, C 5 H 4 N 4 O 3 ) are commonly found in human urinary stones (Joseph et al, 2005), the whewellite (COM) phase is the most common (Daudon et al, 2009). Several studies have been reported which survey the mineral phases of urinary stones from different parts of Europe (Leusmann, 1991), the USA (Kim, 1982), South Africa (Laing & Kerr, 1991), Canada (Levinson et al, 1985), Brazil (Orlando et al, 2008), Sri Lanka (Chandrajith et al, 2006) and India (Ansari et al, 2005). Analytical methods such as chemical analysis, polarizing optical microscopy, Fourier transform IR (FT-IR) spectroscopy and X-ray powder diffraction are generally used for qualitative and quantitative classification of urinary calculi (Rodgers et al, 1982;Spector et al, 1978).…”

Association of kidney stone disease with dietary factors: a review

“…There is a high correlation between the formation of kidney stones, and non-vegetarian food habits, a diet rich in animal protein may increase the risk of kidney stones, and however, vegetarian diet has a lower risk for the formation of kidney stones (Sandilya and Sandilya 2019). Consuming the high amount of animal meat will lead to the acidification of urine which may lead to the formation of calcium oxalate stone in the urinary tract (Chandrajith et al 2006), it could also alter the renal function or increasing the intestinal absorption of calcium which will lead to the formation of calcium-based kidney stone (Licata et al 1979). And also, the consumption of meat with the combination of protein-rich food had a significant association with the prevalence of urinary tract stones (Basiri et al 2009).…”

Impact of mineral homeostasison the pathogenesis of some common diseases in Sri Lanka

“…Although rare, classifications based on morphological appearance of renal stones may give more information on the history 28 A study based on artificial urine has revealed that the possibility for the formation of calcium oxalate is higher than that of calcium phosphate. Further, calcium oxalate is the commonest and an important constituent for renal calculi 33 34 . These studies described the variation of chemical composition of renal stones with respect to the geographical location of the country and the incidence rate of stag horn calculi.…”