The incidence of
renal calculi has been evaluated to be 25% in
urogenital tuberculosis patients. The stone could be caused due to the host, the pathogenic organism, or possibly by the treatment. Studies were carried out to find out the efficacy of
vitamin E supplementation in reducing the risk of stone formation in
renal tuberculosis patients. The study constituted four groups, Group I with 30 normal volunteers, the second group comprised of 36
renal tuberculosis patients (GuTb) a day before treatment. Third group comprised of 24 patients with regular
anti tuberculosis drug regimen for sixty days. In the fourth group, 12 patients were treated with
anti tuberculosis drug regimen along with supplementation of
antioxidant vitamin E (200 mg/day) for sixty days. Hyperuricosuria and
hypercalciuria were observed in group II and group III patients, along with increased excretion of
oxalate and
creatinine, accompanied by decreased excretion of inhibitors such as
citrate and
glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). Renal damage was evident with increased leakage of
Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH),
Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and gamma-Glutamyl
transferase (gamma-GT) in
renal tuberculosis patients. From the results of the above study, it is obvious that increased urinary
oxalate levels leads to cellular damage in GuTb patients, which is a prerequisite for crystal retention as revealed by the elevated urinary marker
enzymes.
Antioxidant therapy prevents membrane injury thereby reducing the risk of stone formation. Hence
vitamin E supplementation has a salubrious effect in preventing stone forming tendency with routine
anti tuberculosis drug regimen.