Urolithiasis induced with DL-3,a-dimethyltyrosine methylester HCl. I. A scanning electron microscopic investigation.

Scanning electron microscopic investigations on rats subjected to DL-3,a-dimethyltyrosine methylester HCl treatment, indicated that the drug in reference induces renal lesions substantiated by proximal tubular epithelial cell regression and eventual exfoliation, coupled by formation of 3,a-dimethyltyrosine calculi both in the upper and lower segments of the urinary tract. The development of calculi was found to be preceded by a moderate to massive precipitation of a fibrin-like substance intermixed with blood cells, and with an occasionally concomitant deposition of exfoliated cells of epithelial origin, to be succeeded by precipitation of crystals.