Abstract
Histological and histochemical studies of 40 urinary stones were performed using polished specimens and decalcified serial sections with various stainings. In the stones containing oxalate, regularly arranged annual ring-like lamellae surrounded a formless central core, and crystals were present in interlamellar spaces in an orderly radial fashion. The stones not containing oxalate showed less organized structures, crystals being interspersed irregularly in non-crystalline substances which usually exhibited a reticular distribution. It was revealed histochemically that the matrix of stone as represented by these lamellae or reticula was composed mainly of acid mucosubstances, probably sulfated glycoproteins. Moreover, calcium stain followed by histochemical stainings for organic substances, on semi-decalcified specimens, indicated that these mucosubstances were distributed around cystals of calcium salt in such a manner as to combine the latter together. From these results it is inferred that, as was already proven for gallstones, mucosubstances participate in the formation of urinary stone as bridging agents for the crystalline components.
