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World J Nephrol. Mar 6, 2016; 5(2): 189-194
Published online Mar 6, 2016. doi: 10.5527/wjn.v5.i2.189
Experimental models of renal calcium stones in rodents
Héloïse Bilbault, Jean-Philippe Haymann
Héloïse Bilbault, Jean-Philippe Haymann, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, UMR_S 1155, 75020 Paris, France
Jean-Philippe Haymann, Service d’Explorations Fonctionnelles Multidisciplinaires, Hôpital Tenon, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, 75020 Paris, France
Jean-Philippe Haymann, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, DHUI2B, 75020 Paris, France
Author contributions: All authors equally contributed to this paper with conception and design of the study, literature review and analysis, drafting and critical revision and editing, and final approval of the final version.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No potential conflicts of interest. No financial support.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Dr. Jean-Philippe Haymann, MD, PhD, Service d’Explorations Fonctionnelles Multidisciplinaires, Hôpital Tenon, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, 4 rue de la Chine, 75020 Paris, France. jean-philippe.haymann@tnn.aphp.fr
Telephone: +33-1-56016771 Fax: +33-1-56017003
Received: September 14, 2015
Peer-review started: September 17, 2015
First decision: October 30, 2015
Revised: December 8, 2015
Accepted: December 29, 2015
Article in press: January 4, 2016
Published online: March 6, 2016
Processing time: 167 Days and 9.5 Hours
Abstract

In human nephrolithiasis, most stones are containing calcium and are located within urinary cavities; they may contain monohydrate calcium oxalate, dihydrate calcium oxalate and/or calcium phosphates in various proportion. Nephrolithiasis may also be associated with nephrocalcinosis, i.e., crystal depositions in tubular lumen and/or interstitium, an entity which suggests specific pathological processes. Several rodents models have been developed in order to study the pathophysiology of intrarenal crystal formation. We review here calcium rodent models classified upon the presence of nephrolithiasis and/or nephrocalcinosis. As rodents are not prone to nephrolithiasis, models require the induction of a long standing hypercalciuria or hyperoxaluria (thus explaining the very few studies reported), conversely to nephrocalcinosis which may occur within hours or days. Whereas a nephrotoxicity leading to tubular injury and regeneration appears as a critical event for crystal retention in nephrocalcinosis models, surprisingly very little is known about the physiopathology of crystal attachment to urothelium in nephrolithiasis. Creating new models of nephrolithiasis especially in different genetic mice strains appears an important challenge in order to unravel the early mechanisms of urinary stone formation in papilla and fornices.

Keywords: Nephrolithiasis; Nephrocalcinosis; Oxalate; Crystal; Urothelium

Core tip: We review here calcium rodent models classified upon the presence of nephrolithiasis or nephrocalcinosis which appear as two different entities. Nephrocalcinosis appears related to tubular cell injuries in the setting of urinary supersaturation whereas the pathophysiology of nephrolithiasis is mostly unraveled. Though few models are available, attachment of crystals in the fornix or in the papilla appear as a striking feature. Creating mice models of nephrolithiasis are thus required to understand the interaction between crystals and urothelium.