Macromolecular inhibitors of calcium oxalate crystal growth and aggregation.

Inhibitors of crystal growth and aggregation present in urine are largely pyrophosphate and glycosaminoglycans. The latter is a mixture of chondroitin sulphates A & C. The activity of glycosaminoglycans is enhanced by the presence of calcium and magnesium ions. The source of urinary glycosaminoglycans is probably not the urinary tract but the connective ground substances of the body.