Review article
https://doi.org/10.2478/10004-1254-64-2013-2428
Oxalate: From the Environment to Kidney Stones
Hrvoje Brzica
; Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Davorka Breljak
; Unit of Molecular Toxicology, Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, Zagreb, Croatia
Birgitta C Burckhardt
; Center of Physiology and Pathophysiology, Department of Vegetative Physiology and Pathophysiology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
Gerhard Burckhardt
; Center of Physiology and Pathophysiology, Department of Vegetative Physiology and Pathophysiology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
Ivan Sabolić
; Unit of Molecular Toxicology, Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Oxalate urolithiasis (nephrolithiasis) is the most frequent type of kidney stone disease. Epidemiological research has shown that urolithiasis is approximately twice as common in men as in women, but the underlying mechanism of this sex-related prevalence is unclear. Oxalate in the organism partially originate from food (exogenous oxalate) and largely as a metabolic end-product from numerous precursors generated mainly in the liver (endogenous oxalate). Oxalate concentrations in plasma and urine can be modified by various foodstuffs, which can interact in positively or negatively by affecting oxalate absorption, excretion, and/or its metabolic pathways. Oxalate is mostly removed from blood by kidneys and partially via bile and intestinal excretion. In the kidneys, after reaching certain conditions, such as high tubular concentration and damaged integrity of the tubule epithelium, oxalate can precipitate and initiate the formation of stones. Recent studies have indicated the importance of the SoLute Carrier 26 (SLC26) family of membrane transporters for handling oxalate. Two members of this family [Sulfate Anion Transporter 1 (SAT-1; SLC26A1) and Chloride/Formate EXchanger (CFEX; SLC26A6)] may contribute to oxalate transport in the intestine, liver, and kidneys. Malfunction or absence of SAT-1 or CFEX has been associated with hyperoxaluria and urolithiasis. However, numerous questions regarding their roles in oxalate transport in the respective organs and male-prevalent urolithiasis, as well as the role of sex hormones in the expression of these transporters at the level of mRNA and protein, still remain to be answered.
Keywords
calcium; CFEX; kidney stone disease; membrane transporters; nephrolithiasis; organic anions; SAT-1; SLC26A1; SLC26A6; sex differences; urolithiasis
Hrčak ID:
111797
URI
Publication date:
6.12.2013.
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