Mineral identification of human kidney stones in South Brazil.

Abstract

Kidney stones are precipitated when abnormal conditions within the urinary tract promotes local ions supersaturation, changes in the pH, and, in some cases, a differential bacterial influence. The most common minerals in kidney stones are calcium oxalates, followed by calcium phosphates, struvite, cystine and uric acid. In this study, the morphological and mineralogical characteristics of kidney stones were registered and applied to simplify their identification and facilitate the diagnosis. Furthermore, we performed isotopic analysis to verify the likelihood of external factors influencing kidney stones formation. In total, 160 samples of kidney stones from different patients above 18 years old were analyzed. We examined the morphological characterization macroscopically, based on features such as color, fabric and relative hardness. The x-ray diffraction (XRD) applied to mineral identification indicated that whewellite was present in 64% of the samples, followed by 14% uric acid stones and 10% struvite stones. The x-ray fluorescence (XRF) revealed that the majority of the kidney stones were formed by phosphates and calcium oxides, followed by magnesium, sodium and sulfur oxides. Isotopic analysis showed δ13C values from − 23 to -8‰ and δ18O values between − 12 and − 6‰ in different types of kidney stones. All the results have shown that it is possible to improve the discrimination of kidney stones based on some morphological features associated with chemical and isotopic composition. Furthermore, isotopic results have suggested that kidney stone formation can be associated with different diets and water intake.