Rapid enzymatic determination of urinary oxalate

This new reagent kit for the quantitative measurement of oxalate in urine is a modification of an earlier Sigma oxalate assay procedure (procedure no. 590), a coupled enzyme assay involving oxalate oxidase and horseradish peroxidase. The new analytical procedure includes methods for processing urine specimens to eliminate interference with oxalate color development at 590 nm by ascorbic acid, divalent cations, and other urinary constituents. The reaction is complete in less than 5 min, and results are linearly related to oxalate concentration up to at least 1 mmol/L. Assay sensitivity and within-run and between-run precision were within the limits acceptable for other urinary oxalate procedures. Analytical recovery of added oxalate was close to 100%. This specific, simple, rapid procedure is suitable for routine clinical use.