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Proteolysis and partial dissolution of calcium oxalate: a comparative, morphological study of urinary crystals from black and white subjects

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Abstract

Crystal adherence to the renal epithelium is widely regarded as a probable mechanism of stone formation. Intracrystalline proteins may provide access to the core of urinary crystals and thereby facilitate the dismantling of these crystals after their attachment to and phagocytosis by renal epithelial cells. The present study investigated the role of proteolysis and limited dissolution of urinary calcium oxalate (CaOx) crystals in South Africa’s white and black populations with a view to understanding the remarkably low stone incidence in the black population compared with the whites. CaOx crystals were precipitated from filtered urine or ultrafiltered urine dosed with an intracrystalline protein, urinary prothrombin fragment 1 (UPTF1), isolated from white and black subjects. The crystals were fractured and subjected to proteolysis and/or limited dissolution before examination using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). FESEM data showed that CaOx crystals from white and black subjects were eroded by treatment with proteases. Cathepsin D caused the most significant crystal erosion, and more noticeable degradation of CaOx monohydrate (COM) crystals compared to CaOx dihydrate (COD). Limited dissolution studies showed the unique ultrastructures and fragmentation processes of COM and COD crystals. COM crystals appeared to be more susceptible to degradation and dissolution than CODs. Since COMs are predominant in blacks, compared with COD crystals from whites, it is speculated that the lower stone rate amongst South African blacks might be attributed partly to their more efficient destruction of retained COM crystals.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, University of Cape Town, Private Bag, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa

    Dawn Webber

  2. Department of Surgery, Flinders Medical Centre and Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia 5042, Australia

    Magali C Chauvet & Rosemary L Ryall

Authors
  1. Dawn Webber
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  2. Magali C Chauvet
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  3. Rosemary L Ryall
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Correspondence to Dawn Webber.

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Webber, D., Chauvet, M.C. & Ryall, R.L. Proteolysis and partial dissolution of calcium oxalate: a comparative, morphological study of urinary crystals from black and white subjects. Urol Res 33, 273–284 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00240-005-0471-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00240-005-0471-9

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