Vitamin C inhibits crystallization of struvite from artificial urine in the presence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Abstract

Background: Formation of struvite stones is associated with urinary tract infection by urease-producing bacteria. Biogenic crystal growth in natural and synthetic materials is regulated by the action of inhibitors, ranging from small ions, molecules to large macromolecules. Materials and Methods: We report the dynamics of in vitro crystallization of struvite in presence of vitamin C in synthetic urine using single diffusion gel growth technique. Sodium metasilicate gel of specific gravity 1.05 and the aqueous solution of ammonium dihydrogen phosphate were used as the medium for growing the struvite crystals. The crystallization process was induced by a urease positive struvite stone associated Pseudomonas aeruginosa to mimic the infection leading to stone formation. The grown crystals were characterized by ATR-FTIR and powder XRD. The surface morphology was analysed through FE-SEM for comparison between treatments. Results: We observed decrease in number, dimension, and growth rate of struvite crystals with the increasing concentrations of vitamin C. Crystals displayed well-defined faces and dendritic morphology of struvite in both control and biogenic systems. Conclusion: The results strongly suggest that, vitamin C can modulate the formation of struvite crystals in the presence of uropathogenic bacteria.

Lscβ and lscγ, two novel levansucrases of Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae biovar 3, the causal agent of bacterial canker of kiwifruit, show different enzymatic properties

“…7b). Based on this evidence, we can hypothesize that during growth Psa3KL103 secretes alkaline metabolites that basify the medium, as previously reported for other Pssc members [40,41].…”

Malonate utilization by Pseudomonas aeruginosa affects quorum‐sensing and virulence and leads to formation of mineralized biofilm‐like structures

“…It is also possible that the MBLS contain struvite (magnesium ammonium phosphate). P. aeruginosa has been shown to precipitate struvite crystals in alkaline urine (Manzoor, Singh, et al., 2018) and that this process can be prevented by acidification of the urine with vitamin C (Manzoor, Duwal, et al., 2018). Furthermore, Li et al (2016) showed that ureolytic biomineralization reduces the susceptibility of Proteus mirabilis biofilms to ciprofloxacin.…”

Morphological and micro-tomographic study on evolution of struvite in synthetic urine infected with bacteria and investigation of its pathological biomineralization

“…Initial early stage crystallization was carried out directly and observed using light microscopy. Single diffusion gel growth technique was used to grow the struvite crystals as described elsewhere [ 3 , 10 , 17 ]. Briefly, sodium metasilicate solution of specific gravity 1.05 was used to prepare the gel.…”