No abstract available.
Adult* ; Humans ; Molecular Epidemiology* ; Oxalobacter formigenes* ; Seoul*

PURPOSE: Oxalobacter formigenes is an intestinal flora degrading oxalate in the gut. However, microbiological detection of this organism is quite difficult. We tried to develop a simple, rapid and cost-effective PCR method for detecting Oxalobacter formigenes from fecal specimens and to determine whether O. formigenes could be detected from frozen fecal specimens as well as fresh stool. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Whole bacterial DNA was isolated directly from fresh and frozen stool samples obtained from 30 healthy volunteers known to be free from urolithiasis and from fresh stool samples obtained from 38 patients with urolithiasis. Genus specific oligonucleotide sequences corresponding to homologous regions residing in the oxc gene that encodes for oxalyl-coenzyme A decarboxylase were designed. A PCR-based assay was done in both fresh and frozen stool samples and the nucleotide sequences were analyzed to determine the details of oxc. RESULTS: PCR product of 416-bp molecular size encoding oxc gene was detected in 23 (77%) of 30 healthy volunteers and in 14 (37%) of 38 patients with urolithiasis. In healthy volunteers, the results of PCR for the fresh and the frozen stool proved identical in each subject. The nucleotide sequence analysis revealed that the sequence of the amplified product was compatible with that of oxc gene. CONCLUSIONS: O. formigenes could be identified easily and efficiently by this PCR-based detection system. Furthermore, as the PCR-based assay results in the frozen fecal samples were identical as that of fresh stool, immediate processing of the fecal samples may not be necessary to detect O. formigenes in the clinical setting.
Base Sequence ; DNA, Bacterial ; Healthy Volunteers ; Humans ; Oxalobacter formigenes* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction* ; Urolithiasis

Kidney stone is one of the common diseases of the urinary system. About 80% of kidney stones are mainly composed of calcium oxalate. As a huge bacterial network, the interaction of gut microbes is complex. Intestinal microbes may play a role in the pathogenesis and prevention of kidney stones. The intestinal flora of patients with calcium oxalate stones possess unique distribution of gut microbes.
Calcium Oxalate ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome ; Humans ; Kidney Calculi/etiology* ; Oxalobacter formigenes ; Urinary Calculi

PURPOSE: The absence of the oxalate-degrading bacteria, Oxalobacter formigenes, in the gastrointestinal tract correlates with the formation of calcium-oxalate urolithiasis. The aim of this study was to isolate Oxalobacter from human feces. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The OxB strain, isolated from sheep rumen, was incubated in selective growth media(medium B) in an anaerobic chamber, and its microbiological properties evaluated. Feces from volunteers, who were presumed to have O. formigenes from a polymerase chain reaction-based detection system, was incubated in medium B. The colonies isolated, primarily 7 days after incubation, were successively subcultured, and colony-PCR performed to isolate colonies from the successive subcultures. RESULTS: The colonies of OxB were Gram-negative, non-motile, non-spore forming, rod-shaped cells. The cells were often in pairs or chains. OxB DNA gave rise to an amplicon of the correct molecular size(416 bp) of O. formigenes. The morphology of the colonies from human feces, of which DNA was confirmed to have the same size amplicon of O. formigenes by PCR, was identical to the OxB, both grossly and by Gram stain. Although the morphology of the colonies isolated from the successive subcultures was no different from that of OxB, the PCR positivity of the isolated colonies decreased on successive subculturing, with no PCR-positive colonies from the fifth subculture. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the microbiological isolation and purification of Oxalobacter formigenes from human feces is a difficult procedure. Special culture conditions will be required to culture Oxalobacter species to reveal the link between O. formigenes and calcium oxalate urolithiasis in humans.
Bacteria ; Calcium Oxalate ; DNA ; Feces* ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Humans* ; Kidney Calculi ; Oxalobacter formigenes* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Rumen ; Sheep ; Urolithiasis ; Volunteers

PURPOSE: We performed a prospective study to evaluate the intestinal colonization by Oxalobacter formigenes, and its relationship to the levels of urinary oxalate in patients with calcium oxalate stone disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and three patients with calcium oxalate urolithiasis, with a mean age of 47 years, ranging in age from 21 to 73, followed-up between August 2000 and September 2001, were enrolled in this study. Fresh stool and 24-hour urine samples were performed. The genus specific oligonucleotide sequences, corresponding to homologous regions residing in the oxc gene, which encodes for oxalyl-coenzyme A decarboxylase, were designed. In order to quantify the presence of O. formigenes in clinical specimens, a quantitative-PCR-based assay system, utilizing a competitive DNA template as an internal standard, was developed. Measurements of the urine volume, pH, creatinine clearance, oxalate, calcium, magnesium, phosphate, citrate and uric acid were performed. RESULTS: The intestinal Oxalobacterium was detected by PCR in 45.6% of the patients with calcium oxalate stones. In the patients with stones, who tested negative for the Oxalobacterium, the average urinary oxalate level was 0.36mmol/day, compared to 0.29mmol/day for those patients testing positive (p<0.05). The mean colony forming unit per gram of stool in all the patients was 1.1x107 (0 to 4.1x108). The 24 h urine oxalate level was significantly decreased with the increasing level of O. formigenes colony forming units (r= 0.517, p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our results support the concept that O. formigenes is important in maintaining oxalate homeostasis, and its absence from the gut increases the risk of calcium oxalate urolithiasis, via increases in the level of urinary oxalate.
Calcium Oxalate* ; Calcium* ; Citric Acid ; Colon ; Creatinine ; DNA ; Homeostasis ; Humans ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Magnesium ; Oxalobacter formigenes* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prospective Studies ; Stem Cells ; Uric Acid ; Urolithiasis*

PURPOSE: Oxalobacter formigenes (O. formigenes) is an obligate anaerobe, which may be important in the prevention of stone formation. O. formigenes degrades oxalates using oxalyl-CoA decarboxylase and formyl- CoA transferase encoded by the oxc and frc genes, respectively. Attempts were made to develop recombinant Escherichia coli (E. coli) expressing both the oxc and frc genes of O. formigenenes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: After the extraction of total RNA from O. formigenes, a reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was carried out using primers synthesized according to the oxc and frc genes reported in GenBank. The cloned cDNA encoding oxalyl-CoA decarboxylase and formyl-CoA transferase was introduced into the pET-22b (+) plasmid vector. The constructs were verified by restriction analysis and DNA sequencing. The plasmid vector containing the cDNA fragment was transformed into competent E. coli BL21 (DE3). The recombinant E. coli was then analyzed using SD-SPAGE for the protein expressions of oxc and frc gene products, and visualized by staining with Coomassie Blue. RESULTS: Restriction enzyme and sequence analyses showed the gene cloned into the pET-22b (+) plasmid vector was identical to the reported oxc and frc genes. After the transformation into the competent E. coli, the SDS-PAGE analysis showed the recombinant E. coli expressed the proteins migrating at 66 and 50KD, which was identical to the reported weight of oxalyl-CoA decarboxylase and formyl-CoA transferase. CONCLISIONS: A recombinant E. coli, expressing oxc and frc genes, was successfully produced. Further studies may be necessary to investigate their enzymatic activities on the degradation of oxalate in the development of a new therapeutic strategy for the prevention of stone formation.
Clone Cells ; Databases, Nucleic Acid ; DNA, Complementary ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Escherichia coli* ; Escherichia* ; Oxalates ; Oxalobacter formigenes* ; Plasmids ; RNA ; Sequence Analysis ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Transferases