title: Sex dependence of the components and structure of urinary calculi induced by biphenyl administration in rats.
abstract: To obtain definitive information about the mechanisms of urinary calculus formation and the structural characteristics of the calculi induced by biphenyl administration in rats, with a focus on the sex dependency, the constituents of the urinary calculi were analyzed by HPLC, inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy (ICP), micro Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (mFT-IR), and ion chromatography (IC), and structural analyses were carried out by microscopy, mFT-IR, and the electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA) method. We attempted to account for the appreciably higher incidence of calculi in males than in females. mFT-IR analysis revealed that the biphenyl-induced urinary calculi in male rats are composed mainly of potassium 4-hydroxybiphenyl-o-sulfate (4-HBPOSK), whereas the calculi in female rats are composed mainly of 4-hydroxybiphenyl (4-HBP) and KHSO(4) produced by the hydrolysis of 4-HBPOSK. Observations of photomicrographs and the results of mFT-IR analysis indicated that the calculi in males have a multilayer structure consisting of alternating layers of 4-HBPOSK and calcium phosphate, whereas the calculi in females have no multilayer structure, but open holes in which needle-shaped crystals are present in some places. In view of the results of these analyses, including the EPMA analysis, it appears that calculus formation in males may involve a series of successive and irreversible reactions, whereas calculus formation in females may result from a series of reversible reactions, including the hydrolysis of 4-HBPOSK. It was inferred that the series of irreversible reactions involved in calculus formation in males is relatively more stable than that in the case of females, and thus, a sex difference in the reaction features may be responsible for the observed difference in the incidence of calculus formation.
authors.affiliation: Japan Bioassay Research Center, Japan Industrial Safety and Health Association, Hadano-shi, Kanagawa 257-0015, Japan. baio@jisha.or.jp
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ohnishi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yajima
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsushima
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ishii
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001713:Biphenyl Compounds / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000633:toxicity; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D004577:Electron Probe Microanalysis; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D012737:Sex Factors; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D001743:Urinary Bladder / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D001744:Urinary Bladder Calculi / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D001713:Biphenyl Compounds; C010574:biphenyl