To clarify the relationship between
uric acid urolithiasis and
purine catabolites in newborn piglets, the incidence of
uric acid urolithiasis and the plasma concentrations of
xanthine,
hypoxanthine,
uric acid and
allantoin were examined in 32 piglets. The newborn piglets were divided into two groups: normal (over 1.2 kg, n = 18, group N) and low
body weight (below 0.9 kg, n = 14, group L). The animals in both groups were given water (non-nutrition, n = 11, treatment W), artificial milk (normal nutrition, n = 12, treatment M), or a combination of water and
allopurinol (prophylactic treatment for the
urolithiasis, n = 9, treatment A), during the first 60-hr of birth. At necropsy, the incidence of
urolithiasis was higher in the piglets that received treatment W than those in the treatment M or A in both the N and L groups. In group L, the plasma
xanthine,
hypoxanthine and
uric acid concentrations were markedly increased in the piglets that underwent treatment W compared with the treatment M. In both the N and L groups, the plasma
allantoin concentration was higher in the treatment W piglets as compared with the treatment M piglets. These results suggested that the occurrence of
uric acid urolithiasis in the newborn piglets is attributable to increased
purine catabolites due to a starvational condition after birth.