E. coli and urease-induced crystallisation in urine.

The effects of urine preinoculation with E. coli for 20 h on urease activities in urine have been studied in synthetic as well as human urine. The E. coli preinoculation increased pH in both synthetic and human urine. Urease enzymatic activity was enhanced in E. coli-preinoculated synthetic urine. The intraluminal urease-induced precipitation was increased in E. coli-preinoculated synthetic urine. The precipitation on glass rods, which more closely reflects crystal growth and aggregation, was reduced. The process of urease-induced crystallisation thus appears to be influenced by E. coli. In human urine, the effects of E. coli preinoculation were less uniform but a significantly increased urease-induced precipitation after E. coli preinoculation could be reproduced in human urine also.