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Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Estimation of Urinary Nanocrystals in Humans using Calcium Fluorophore Labeling and Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis
Published on: February 9, 2021
Metabolic syndrome and the genesis of uric acid stones
1Department of Internal Medicine, and Charles and Jane Pak Center for Mineral Metabolism and Clinical Research, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-8885, USA. naim.maalouf@utsouthwestern.edu
Abstract:
Uric acid stones are significantly more common among nephrolithiasis patients with type 2 diabetes, obesity, and/or the metabolic syndrome. The principal metabolic feature responsible for this association is an overly acidic urine, which leads to the precipitation of sparingly soluble uric acid crystals in urine and subsequent development of stones. The unduly acidic urine in uric acid stone formers is caused by a combination of excessive dietary intake of animal proteins and a defect in renal ammoniagenesis and/or excretion that leads to impaired buffering and amplifies the acidic urine caused by an increased acid excretion.
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