Resistance to Stone Growth in Hamsters due to Dispersion of Urinary Calcium Salts in a form Resembling the Colloidal State: Experimental Urolithiasis. XVII.

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Abstract
Stone formation was studied in male golden hamsters 6 weeks of age. A foreign body of a 4 mm zinc disc was introduced into the bladder. It was found that, in contrast to rats, hamsters failed to form stones. Urine of hamsters is highly concentrated in stone forming ions (e.g., Ca 500 mg%). The remarkable resistance to stone formation is attributed to the peculiar physical state of the calcium salts in the urine, a state closely resembling a colloidal dispersion. Innumerable spherical particles, 0.4 m[mu] in diameter, were seen in the urine by both light and electron microscopy. By study with X-ray diffraction the insoluble salts composing these macrocolloidal particles were found to be in a noncrystalline state.