Abstract
The clinicopathological study was done regarding the crystalline deposition in the kidney of autopsy cases, as this pathological change had frequently been observed during the years 1966 to 1969. Polarized microscopic and histochemical studies identified these crystals as calcium oxalate, since they were characteristically birefringent, 40 to 50 μm in size, mostly radiated needle-shaped, insoluble in 1 N KOH and 2 M acetic acid and redstained with alizarin red by Johnson's method. The results of the microscopic observations were supported by the biochemical quantitative analysis of oxalate in the kidneys of 7 cases with numerous crystalline deposits, showing these kidneys contained from two to ten times as much oxalate as did the control ones. The aggregates of crystals might comprise neutral and/or acid mocopolysaccharide. Autopsy cases with oxalate crystalline deposition in the kidney were more frequently experienced during the past three years, in which a 10% xylitol solution was intravenously infused. The frequency and degree of deposition were much higher in the xylitol-administered group than in the non-administered group. Consequently, it was presumed that 10% xylitol administration might have induced this pathological change. However, no oxalate crystalline deposition in the kidneys of sixty rats was demonstrated in the experiment, in which various doses of 50% xylitol solution were intraperitoneally infused under several conditions. Its pathogenesis was discussed.
