Diet modification plays an important role in
nephrolithiasis. Development of an easy, ready-to-use beverage such as a commercial juice drink to use as a preventive treatment for
renal calculi formation would be widely welcomed. We previously developed a novel Drosophila model for the study of
nephrolithiasis. It provides a new well-established
drug discovery platform for this common disease. In our current study, we used the Drosophila model to investigate the preventive effects of various commercial juices as potential treatments for
nephrolithiasis. Our results showed that apple, cranberry, orange, and pomegranate juices failed to reduce
calcium oxalate (CaOx) crystal formation, whereas our positive control-
potassium citrate (K-
citrate)-significantly prevented CaOx crystal formation. Unlike the commercial fruit juices that were tested, the administration of K-
citrate significantly ameliorated the
ethylene glycol (EG)-induced life-span reduction in treated flies. These results indicate that EG-induced CaOx
nephrolithiasis in Drosophila can be prevented by K-
citrate, but not by commercial
citrate-containing juices. However, the inhibitory capability of
citrate-containing juices to reduce renal stone formation in humans requires further elucidation.