Comparative study of the effects of pyruvate and CG-120 in preventing experimental oxalate urolithiasis in rats.

Male Wistar-strain rats which had been fed a calcium-oxalate lithogenic diet (a glycolate diet) developed urinary calculi in 4 weeks. Sodium pyruvate or CG-120 (a mixture of citrate salts) had been added to this diet to determine its effect in preventing lithogenicity. Rats in the group fed a pyruvate diet had, however, almost no stones in the urinary system. Rats in the CG-120 group showed results somewhat similar to those in the pyruvate group. Increased urinary citrate excretion was observed in both groups and could be implicated as the main inhibitory factor in stone formation. Therefore, it can be concluded that CG-120 exerts a beneficial effect close to that of pyruvate in preventing calculi formation and that both substances cause a high citrate excretion in urine.