Effect of estrogen on the formation of struvite calculi in female rats.

The administration of 1 mg estradiol every other week for 12 weeks to female rats resulted in a high incidence (about 50%) of bladder stones. Most calculi were struvite, suggesting the predisposition to urinary tract infection. Enterobacteria, staphylococcus and streptococcus were identified as infecting organisms. Metaplasia of the transitional bladder epithelium by estrogen to a stratified or pseudostratified columnar epithelium may be involved in the underlying cause of urinary tract infection.