The effect of pH on the urinary inhibition of calcium oxalate crystal growth.

Urinary inhibition of calcium oxalate crystal growth was measured in metastable solutions of sodium oxalate and calcium chloride at different pH. Inhibition of calcium oxalate crystal growth in urine from patients with calcium oxalate stone disease increased with increasing pH. The increase was most pronounced between pH 5.5 and 7.0. Sodium pyrophosphate in a similar way inhibited calcium oxalate crystal growth in this pH interval, and between pH 6.0 and 7.5 there was also a slight increase in the inhibiting activity by chondroitin sulphate and citrate. Approximative correction factors were calculated in order to obtain a more appropriate value of the inhibition index when urine pH was different from 6.0, and a reasonably good correlation was obtained between inhibition indices calculated by means of the correction factor and inhibition indices derived from direct measurements of the crystal growth rate in solutions with different pH.