Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Biofilm Mediated Calculus Formation In The Urinary Tract, Robert J. C. Mclean, David J. Stickler, J. Curtis Nickel

Cells and Materials

Mineralization and subsequent calculus formation is a common complication of biofilm infections. In the urinary tract, these infected calculi often arise from infections by urease-producing bacteria. Ammonia, liberated by bacterial urease activity, increases urine pH, resulting in the precipitation of Ca and Mg as carbonateapatite {Ca₁₀(PO₄,CO₃)₆(OH,CO₃)₂} and struvite (NH₄MgP0₄·6H₂O). These minerals become entrapped in the organic matrix which surrounds the infecting organisms and ultimately grow into mature calculi. When the causative organisms grow on urinary catheters and stents, the resulting mineralization can …