Mineralogy, geochemistry, and micromorphology of human kidney stones (urolithiasis) from Mersin, the southern Turkey

Eren E., KARABULUT Y. Y., EREN M., KADİR S.

ENVIRONMENTAL GEOCHEMISTRY AND HEALTH, vol.45, no.7, pp.4761-4777, 2023 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 45 Issue: 7
  • Publication Date: 2023
  • Doi Number: 10.1007/s10653-023-01525-8
  • Journal Name: ENVIRONMENTAL GEOCHEMISTRY AND HEALTH
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Aquatic Science & Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA), BIOSIS, CAB Abstracts, Chemical Abstracts Core, EMBASE, Environment Index, Geobase, INSPEC, MEDLINE, Pollution Abstracts, Veterinary Science Database
  • Page Numbers: pp.4761-4777
  • Keywords: Kidney stone, Urinary tract, Mineralogy, Geochemistry, Micromorphology, Turkey, CALCIUM-PHOSPHATE, URINARY STONES, MECHANISMS, OXALATE, PATHOPHYSIOLOGY, NANOBACTERIA, PATHOGENESIS, APATITE
  • Eskisehir Osmangazi University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

This study describes the primary characteristics of the selected kidney stones surgically removed from the patients at the Mersin University Hospital in the southern Turkey and interprets their formation via petrographic, geochemical, XRD, SEM-EDX, and ICP-MS/OES analyses. The analytical results revealed that the kidney stones are composed of the minerals whewellite, struvite, hydroxyapatite, and uric acid alone or in different combinations. The samples occur in staghorn, bean-shaped composite, and individual rounded particle shapes, which are controlled by the shape of the nucleus and the site of stone formation. The cross-section of the samples shows concentric growth layers due to variations in saturation, characterizing the metastable phase. Kidney stone formation includes two main stages: (i) nucleation and (ii) aggregation and/or growth. Nucleation was either Randall plaque of hydroxyapatite in tissue on the surface of the papilla or a coating of whewellite on the plaque, or crystallization as free particles in the urine. Subsequently, aggregation or growth occurs by precipitation of stone-forming materials around the plaque or coating carried into the urine, or around the nucleus formed in situ in the urine. Urinary supersaturation is the main driving force of crystallization processes; and is controlled by many factors including bacterially induced supersaturation.