Ascorbic acid is an abettor in calcium urolithiasis: an experimental study

Scanning Microsc. 1993 Sep;7(3):1041-7; discussion 1047-8.

Abstract

Two sets of animal experiments using guinea pigs were planned to evaluate the effect of ascorbic acid supplementation on the lithogenic process. In the first set of experiments, 10, 40, and 60 mg doses of ascorbic acid/100g body weight/day were given for 105 days. Neither of the ascorbic acid doses given induced crystalluria, calcification or stone formation, thereby confirming our previous findings that ascorbic acid in the doses used by clinicians does not cause urolith formation. In the second set of experiments, ascorbic acid was supplemented in hypercalciuric (induced by calcium carbonate feeding) and hyperoxaluric (induced by sodium oxalate feeding) animals for 45 days. The results indicated that it exacerbated the calcification process in renal and bladder tissue.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Ascorbic Acid / toxicity*
  • Ascorbic Acid / urine
  • Calcium / urine
  • Carboxylic Acids / urine
  • Creatinine / urine
  • Guinea Pigs
  • Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
  • Kidney / pathology*
  • Kidney Calculi / chemically induced*
  • Kidney Calculi / urine
  • Magnesium / urine
  • Male
  • Mucoproteins / urine
  • Phosphorus / urine
  • Uric Acid / urine
  • Urinary Bladder / pathology*
  • Urinary Bladder Calculi / chemically induced*
  • Urinary Bladder Calculi / urine
  • Uromodulin

Substances

  • Carboxylic Acids
  • Mucoproteins
  • Uromodulin
  • Uric Acid
  • Phosphorus
  • Creatinine
  • Magnesium
  • Ascorbic Acid
  • Calcium