Experimental Urolithiasis

Abstract

A chance observation of the beneficial effects of intercurrent infection on foreign body stone stimulated an investigation into the effects of S. enteritidis infection on exptl. urolithiasis of rats. This in- fection can prevent the formation of stones that would otherwise occur on the foreign bodies, and if the infection is introduced only after stones have already formed, the infection can produce regression and sometimes complete dissolution of such stones. The mechanism by which the infection produces stone inhibition is as yet unknown. No change was detected in either the urinary pH or the urinary excretion of the crystalloid components of the stone.