[Contribution to the problem of preventing recurrences of oxalate and phosphate urinary caluli: active modification of citrate excretion and Ca++-binding capacity in the urine of Wistar rats].

Citric acid may well be, quantitatively and in terms of complex chemistry, the most important of the organic acids capable of binding Ca++ in urine. Since the quantitative determination of citrates in urine became a routine method in many research-orientated urological laboratories thanks to the introduction of standardized enzymatic tests, reports of a reduced excretion of citrates in patients with (recurrent) (oxalate) calculi have become frequent. During our long-term study of patients with recurrent formation of calculi we also observed a clear deficit of citrates in their morning, midday and evening urine. The conspicuous incidence of calculi when there is a concurrence of hypocitraturia and alkaline urine (RTA, in animal experiments: acetazolamide) clearly suggests the lithoprotective significance of citric acid. By quantitatively testing a large number of organic compounds which are interesting both structurally and in terms of complex chemistry, it has been possible to find some substances which restrict crystallization, raise the level of citrates and bind Ca++. A few have also found to restrict the excretion of oxalate in Wistar rats.