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Our findings on differential expression of PLAC1 in PCa plus its positive association with Gleason score and negative correlation with PSA expression highlight the potential usefulness of PLAC1 for targeted PC therapy especially for patients with advanced disease.

Objectives To investigate potential oxalate‐degrading bacteria, including Oxalobacter formigenes, Lactobacillus (Lac) and Bifidobacterium (Bif) genera, and Oxalyl‐CoA decarboxylase (oxc) encoding Lac (LX) and Bif (BX) species in participants with recurrent calcium kidney stones, and their correlation with 24‐h urine oxalate. Participants and Methods Stool and 24‐h urine samples were collected from 58 patients with urolithiasis (29 cases with and 29 without hyperoxaluria) and 29 healthy controls. Absolute quantitation and relative abundance of the bacteria were measured by real‐time PCR. The relationship between the investigated bacteria and 24‐h urine oxalate were assessed statistically. Results The count per gram of stool and relative abundance of O. formigenes, Lac, Bif, LX and BX and the number of participants carrying O. formigenes, LX and BX bacteria were not significantly different between the groups; however, the relative abundance of O. formigenes in the kidney stone group was lower than in healthy controls (P = 0.035). More healthy controls were O. formigenes‐positive compared with participants in the kidney stone group (P = 0.052). The results of the linear regression model, including all study participants, showed that the presence of O. formigenes could decrease 24‐h urine oxalate (β = −8.4, P = 0.047). Neither Lac and Bif genera nor LX and BX species were correlated with calcium stones or urine oxalate. Conclusion These results emphasize the role of O. formigenes in kidney stone formation and its role in hyperoxaluria, which may be independent of kidney stone disease. Moreover, our results suggest that, although some Lac and Bif strains have oxalate‐degrading potential, they may not be among the major oxalate‐degrading bacteria of the gut microbiome.

Purpose: Hypercalciuria is one of the risk factors for calcium kidney stone formation (the most common type of urinary stones). Although vitamin D deficiency is prevalent among urolithiasis patients, the effect of vitamin D supplementation on urine calcium in these patients is still unclear. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, medical and laboratory tests records of 26 patients with recurrent calcium kidney stones and vitamin D deficiency treated with 50000IU vitamin D per week for 8-12 weeks were analyzed. The changes in 24-hour urine calcium (24-h Ca), serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25 (OH) D), serum parathormone (PTH), other 24-hour urine metabolites and calculated relative supersaturations of calcium oxalate (CaOxSS), calcium phosphate (CaPSS) and uric acid (UASS) were assessed. Moreover, correlations between changes in 24-h Ca and other aforementioned variables were assessed. Results: Serum 25 (OH) D and 24-h Ca increased after vitamin D supplementation, while serum PTH decreased (p < 0.001, for all analyses). The levels of 24-hour urine sodium and urea increased significantly (p = 0.005 and p = 0.031, respectively). The levels of CaOxSS and CaPSS increased, but the changes were not significant (p = 0.177, and p = 0.218, respectively). There were no correlations between the changes in 24-h Ca and serum 25 (OH) D or PTH. Conclusions: The result of current study suggests that although urine Ca increased in vitamin D supplemented patients, this increase was not associated with the increase in serum vitamin D and may be due to other factors such as dietary factors. Further randomized clinical trials considering other factors associated with urine Ca are warranted.

Purpose Adherence to preventive recommendations improves clinical outcomes and is compulsory for long-term prevention in urolithiasis patients. Service quality can affect patients’ adherence to treatment and care. The purpose of this paper is to compare perceived service quality, using the SERVQUAL model, between urolithiasis patients who were nonadherent to their follow-up visits and those who were adherent, in a stone prevention clinic, Tehran, Iran. Design/methodology/approach This was a cross-sectional study on patients with urolithiasis referred to the Shahid-Labbafinejad Hospital stone prevention clinic between 2010 and 2014. All patients withdrawing from follow-up visits were selected as the nonadherent group. Patients with follow-up visits were randomly selected and appointed as the adherent group. Data included demographic, service quality (assessed using the SERVQUAL) and a questionnaire about the reason for withdrawal from follow-up visits. Man–Whitney U test, χ2 and binary logistic regression were used for data analyses. Findings In total, 531 nonadherent and 51 adherent patients entered the study. SERVQUAL results revealed that patients’ expectations were significantly higher than their perceptions in all five service quality dimensions in both groups. The adherent group had better-quality scores. Responsibility, assurance and empathy scores significantly increased patient adherence odds. Research limitations/implications Uni-center design; missing data, such as socioeconomic status and disease severity, which may influence treatment adherence; and missing data regarding adherence to medication and dietary advice were limitations. Practical implications Service quality needs to be improved in all dimensions. Originality/value Since responsiveness, assurance and empathy dimensions determined patients’ adherence, giving special attention to these dimensions could improve patient adherence.

Urolithiasis is a common, highly recurrent disease with increasing prevalence worldwide. The association between vitamin D and calcium stones has often been investigated on the basis of the role of vitamin D in calcium homeostasis. Currently, there is no consensus on the management of vitamin D deficiency in patients with renal calculi, because of controversies about the relationship between vitamin D and calcium stones. However, the vitamin D deficiency is shown to be highly prevalent among kidney stone formers, and some studies found a higher prevalence in stone formers compared with non-stone formers. This article attempts to review the relationship between calcium stones and vitamin D, and propose a mechanism for the association between vitamin D deficiency and calcium-based calculi according to the substantial role of inflammation and oxidative stress in calcium stone formation and also the pro-inflammatory effect of vitamin D deficiency.

Increased urinary oxalate is considered a major risk factor in the formation of calcium oxalate kidney stones. Gut microbiota may reduce the risk of stone formation. Anyway, the first step for any research about monitoring of oxalate content (both in vitro and in vivo) is a determination of its concentration, while there are different methods reported in the literature for oxalate content determination. In this research, the main reported methods including titration with two titrators (potassium permanganate, and NaOH) as well as enzymatic method (oxalate assay kit) are presented and compared for the measurement of oxalate in both inoculated and non-inoculated media.

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