Intestinal Oxalate Absorption in Calcium Oxalate Stone Disease

Abstract

Several laboratories have reported a slight but significant increase in urinary oxalate excretion in patients with calcium oxalate stone disease1–4. The mechanism responsible for this increased oxalate excretion remains largely unknown. Zarembski and Hodgkinson5, and Robertson et al.1 reported that patients with calcium oxalate stones had a greater increase in urinary oxalate excretion than did normal subjects when placed on an increased oxalate diet. However, Barilla et al, in a similar study, did not confirm this observation7. Hodgkinson also reported that the increased oxalate excretion in patients with calcium oxalate stones was abolished by fasting8. These studies, in the aggregate, suggest that increased oxalate absorption might account for the increased oxalate excretion in certain patients with calcium stone disease.