The development of a test system for inhibition of urinary oxalate lithiasis.

The production of calcium oxalate deposits on zinc pellets in the bladder of rats was induced by the addition of 0.25 to 1.0 per cent ethylene glycol to their drinking water. Sprague Dawley rats requied more than 0.50 per cent ethylene glycol to produce calcium oxalate exclusively. The quantity of deposits varied widely between test animals, but intermediate operation to check on the amount of deposit showed that each rat at the 0.75 per cent ethylene glycol level maintained its individual rate of deposition within an acceptable standard deviation relative to the mean. At 1 per cent ethylene glycol deposition in the kidneys interfered with deposition on the zinc pellet.