Abstract
A very rare gallstone containing L-cystine in the most outer layer was disoovered in 972 specimens of gallstones which were removed from 341 patients with cholelithiasis at The First Department of Surgery and were analyzed in Department of Legal Medicine, Nippon Medical School.
1) The gallstone measuring 30×30×60mm in size removed from a 51-year-old housewife in April 1975 was judged pure cholesterol stone.when inspected macroscopically However, infra-red spectrometry and X-ray diffraction patterns proved main components to be as follows:cholesterol andL-cystine in the brown part of the most outer layer, cholesterol and Ca3(PO4)2 in the green part of the most outer layer, cholesterol and Ca3(PO4)2 in the outer layer and the intermediate layer, and cholesterol in the central layer including the nucleus.
2) The fraction of the brown part of the most outer layer was positive in ninhydrin and nitroprusside reactions.Thin layer chromatography and gas liquid chromatography revealed Rf value and r-Rt value (n-butylstearate) of the sample to be in accord with those of conventionally available L-cystine. By GC/MS, mass spectrum and quasi-molecular ion(QM+529)of the sample showed the same patterns as those of L-cystine.The content of L-cystine was measured to be 31.65%w/w by the amino acid autoanalyzer.
The sample was identified as L-cystine based on these findings.
