Oxalate-Degrading Capacities of Gastrointestinal Lactic Acid Bacteria and Urinary Tract Stone Formation

Background: Calcium oxalate is one the most significant causes of human kidney stones. Increasing oxalate uptake results in increased urinary oxalate. Elevated urinary oxalate is one the most important causes of kidney stone formation. This study aims to evaluate oxalate-degrading capacity of lactic acid bacteria and its impact on incidence of kidney stone.
Materials and Methods: This case-control study was conducted on serum, urinary, and fecal samples. The research population included a total of 200 subjects divided in two equal groups. They were selected from the patients with urinary tract stones, visiting urologist, and also normal people. The level of calcium, oxalate, and citrate in the urinary samples, parathyroid and calcium in the serum samples, and degrading activity of fecal lactobacillus strains of all the subjects were evaluated. Then, data analysis was carried out using SPSS-11.5, X² test, Fisher’s exact test, and analysis of variance. 
Results: The results revealed that the patients had higher urinary level of oxalate and calcium, as well as higher serum level of parathyroid hormone than normal people. In contrast, urinary level of citrate was higher in normal people. In addition, there was a significant difference between the oxalate-degrading capacities of lactobacillus isolated from the patients and their normal peers.
Conclusion: Reduction of digestive lactobacillus-related oxalate-degrading capacity and increased serum level of parathyroid hormone can cause elevated urinary level of oxalate and calcium in people with kidney stone.