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Costa-Bauzá A, Grases F, Julià F. The power of desktop scanning electron microscopy with elemental analysis for analyzing urinary stones. Urolithiasis 2023; 51:50. [PMID: 36920587 PMCID: PMC10017624 DOI: 10.1007/s00240-023-01424-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2023] [Accepted: 02/27/2023] [Indexed: 03/16/2023]
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to present a protocol for the routine morphocompositional study of kidney stones in a clinical setting, and to demonstrate that it is a simple and useful approach that can reliably determine the etiology of all types of kidney stones. Our routine study of kidney stones consists of a combination of stereoscopic microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and infrared spectroscopy. The usefulness of such a procedure is demonstrated by its application to several illustrating examples. The protocol applied here is reliable and fast, and does not require multiple infrared spectroscopic analyses for most non-homogeneous samples. It also provides the identification of components that are present in very small proportions, the characteristics of internal and external structures, and information about areas with biological structures, such as renal tubules. It should be noted that results are obtained in a relatively short time and with high reliability. The detailed morphocompositional study of a urinary calculus is essential for establishing the diagnosis and etiology and for initiating the treatment of a patient with renal lithiasis, because there is a relationship between the specific characteristics of a stone and the specific etiology of the disease. The increasing number of treatments available for patients with different types of renal calculi makes improvements in diagnosis and determination of stone etiology, such as the procedure described here, more important now than ever.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Costa-Bauzá
- Laboratory of Renal Lithiasis Research, University Institute of Health Science Research (IUNICS-IdISBa), University of Balearic Islands, Ctra. de Valldemossa Km 7.5, 07122, Palma, Spain.
| | - F Grases
- Laboratory of Renal Lithiasis Research, University Institute of Health Science Research (IUNICS-IdISBa), University of Balearic Islands, Ctra. de Valldemossa Km 7.5, 07122, Palma, Spain
| | - F Julià
- Laboratory of Renal Lithiasis Research, University Institute of Health Science Research (IUNICS-IdISBa), University of Balearic Islands, Ctra. de Valldemossa Km 7.5, 07122, Palma, Spain
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Bazin D, Bouderlique E, Daudon M, Frochot V, Haymann JP, Letavernier E, Tielens F, Weil R. Scanning electron microscopy—a powerful imaging technique for the clinician. CR CHIM 2022. [DOI: 10.5802/crchim.101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
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Primiano A, Persichilli S, Di Giacinto F, Ciasca G, Baroni S, Ferraro PM, De Spirito M, Urbani A, Gervasoni J. Attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) detection as a rapid and convenient screening test for cystinuria. Clin Chim Acta 2021; 518:128-133. [PMID: 33794142 DOI: 10.1016/j.cca.2021.03.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2020] [Revised: 03/19/2021] [Accepted: 03/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Cystinuria is an inborn congenital disorder characterised by a defective cystine metabolism resulting in the formation of cystine stones. The Brand's test, used for diagnosis, requires dangerous substances, so has been replaced with high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorimetric detection (HPLC-FL). However, this technique requires the use of complex equipment. Infrared spectroscopy, universally used for stone analysis, recently was employed to detect insoluble cystine in urine. The aim of this study is to evaluate Infrared Spectroscopy combined with chemometric analysis as screening method to identify those patients requiring confirmation by HPLC-FL analysis. METHODS We examined 24 h urine specimens from 57 patients. The quantitative analysis was performed by HPLC-FL. The infrared spectroscopic urine sediment analysis was performed with an ATR accessory (ATR-FTIR). Urine is centrifuged, the supernatant is discarded, and the sediment is dried on to the ATR prism surface. Statistical analysis was performed using a custom-made software developed in MATLAB environment. RESULTS The HPLC-FL determination showed a normal excretion of cystine in 49 samples and an abnormal excretion in the remaining 8 samples. The ATR-FTIR analysis combined with a statistical approach gives a sensitivity of 1.0 and a specificity of 0.82 were obtained. CONCLUSIONS The introduction of the ATR-FTIR technique in our clinical laboratory setting may reduce time and cost analysis for diagnosis of cystinuria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aniello Primiano
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Roma, Italy; Dipartimento di Scienze Biotecnologiche di base, Cliniche Intensivologiche e Perioperatorie, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italy
| | - Silvia Persichilli
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Roma, Italy; Dipartimento di Scienze Biotecnologiche di base, Cliniche Intensivologiche e Perioperatorie, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italy
| | - Flavio Di Giacinto
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Roma, Italy; Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italy
| | - Gabriele Ciasca
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Roma, Italy; Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italy
| | - Silvia Baroni
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Roma, Italy; Dipartimento di Scienze Biotecnologiche di base, Cliniche Intensivologiche e Perioperatorie, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italy
| | - Pietro Manuel Ferraro
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Roma, Italy; Dipartimento di Medicina e chirurgia traslazionale, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italy
| | - Marco De Spirito
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Roma, Italy; Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italy
| | - Andrea Urbani
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Roma, Italy; Dipartimento di Scienze Biotecnologiche di base, Cliniche Intensivologiche e Perioperatorie, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italy.
| | - Jacopo Gervasoni
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Roma, Italy.
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A Specific Urinary Amino Acid Profile Characterizes People with Kidney Stones. DISEASE MARKERS 2020; 2020:8848225. [PMID: 32670436 PMCID: PMC7345965 DOI: 10.1155/2020/8848225] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2020] [Revised: 06/08/2020] [Accepted: 06/15/2020] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Background Urolithiasis is the process of stone formation in the urinary tract. Its etiology is only partly known, and efficient therapeutic approaches are currently lacking. Metabolomics is increasingly used in biomarkers discovery for its ability to identify mediators of relevant (patho)physiological processes. Amino acids may be involved in kidney stone formation. The aim of the present study was to investigate the presence of an amino acid signature in stone former urine through a targeted metabolomic approach. Methods A panel of 35 amino acids and derivatives was assessed in urines from 15 stone former patients and 12 healthy subjects by UPLC-MS. Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) was used to define amino acid profiles of cases and controls. Results and Discussion. Our approach led to the definition of a specific amino acid fingerprint in people with kidney stones. A urinary amino acid profile of stone formers was characterized by lower levels of α-aminobutyric acid, asparagine, ethanolamine, isoleucine, methionine, phenylalanine, serine, tryptophan, and valine. Metabolomic analysis may lend insights into the pathophysiology of urolithiasis and allow tracking this prevalent condition over time.
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