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Structure and formation mechanism of calcium phosphate concretions formed in simulated body fluid

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Abstract

Synthetic calcium phosphate (CaP) concretions in the form of hemispheres formed under carefully controlled conditions (pH 7.4, 37 °C, no evaporation) from stagnant simulated body fluid on anionic polymeric substrate (laminin) were observed by scanning and transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The hemispheres with diameter between approximately 50 and 200 μm were composed of closely connected round spherical and elliptical objects of diameter varying from 70 to 120 nm with surface layer composed of tightly packed spherical objects of diameter 25–30 nm. The phase composition of concretions consisting of amorphous material was uniform. The concretions were formed by aggregation of CaP clusters (Posner’s clusters Ca9(PO4)3 or [Ca3(PO4)2] n ) generated in the solution by perikinetic coagulation, their settling onto a substrate and subsequent accumulation through surface migration (surface nucleation) followed by accretion of nanoparticles arriving from surrounding solution. The similarity of ultrafine structures of these synthetic CaP concretions and the compact phosphatic phase appearing in some phosphate calculi indicates that analogous mechanisms could be active at the formation of the latter in the kidneys.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the project CTQ2010-18271/PPQ from t Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Gobierno de España), FEDER funds (European Union) and the project grant 9/2011 from the Conselleria d’Educació, Cultura i Universitat (Govern de les Illes Balears).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Renal Lithiasis Research, University Institute of Health Sciences Research (IUNICS), University of Balearic Islands, 07122, Palma de Mallorca, Spain

    Felix Grases

  2. Synpo a.s., S.K. Neumanna, Pardubice, Czech Republic

    Markéta Zelenková

  3. Faculty of Environmental Studies, University of J.E.Purkyně, Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic

    Otakar Söhnel

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  1. Felix Grases
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  2. Markéta Zelenková
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  3. Otakar Söhnel
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Correspondence to Felix Grases.

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Grases, F., Zelenková, M. & Söhnel, O. Structure and formation mechanism of calcium phosphate concretions formed in simulated body fluid. Urolithiasis 42, 9–16 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00240-013-0611-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00240-013-0611-6

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