Sex dependence of the components and structure of urinary calculi induced by biphenyl administration in rats.

Abstract

To obtain definitive information about the mechanisms of urinary calculus formation and the structural characteristics of the calculi induced by biphenyl administration in rats, with a focus on the sex dependency, the constituents of the urinary calculi were analyzed by HPLC, inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy (ICP), micro Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (mFT-IR), and ion chromatography (IC), and structural analyses were carried out by microscopy, mFT-IR, and the electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA) method. We attempted to account for the appreciably higher incidence of calculi in males than in females. mFT-IR analysis revealed that the biphenyl-induced urinary calculi in male rats are composed mainly of potassium 4-hydroxybiphenyl-o-sulfate (4-HBPOSK), whereas the calculi in female rats are composed mainly of 4-hydroxybiphenyl (4-HBP) and KHSO(4) produced by the hydrolysis of 4-HBPOSK. Observations of photomicrographs and the results of mFT-IR analysis indicated that the calculi in males have a multilayer structure consisting of alternating layers of 4-HBPOSK and calcium phosphate, whereas the calculi in females have no multilayer structure, but open holes in which needle-shaped crystals are present in some places. In view of the results of these analyses, including the EPMA analysis, it appears that calculus formation in males may involve a series of successive and irreversible reactions, whereas calculus formation in females may result from a series of reversible reactions, including the hydrolysis of 4-HBPOSK. It was inferred that the series of irreversible reactions involved in calculus formation in males is relatively more stable than that in the case of females, and thus, a sex difference in the reaction features may be responsible for the observed difference in the incidence of calculus formation.