Valores de referencia de citrato y oxalato urinarios para habitantes del área metropolitana del estado Anzoátegui, Venezuela

SUMMARY Urinary oxalate and citrate concentration are parameters that should be determined in kidney lithiasis. In order to diag- nose states of hypocitraturia and hyperoxaluria, normal values have to be established for every population, as these variables are dependent upon climatic condition and life style. Oxalate levels were determined by the enzymatic decarboxylation-dehy- drogenation method and citrate levels by the citrate-liase method, using 24 hour urine samples from 39 healthy voluntar- ies, inhabitants of the metropolitan area of Anzoátegui State, Venezuela. In these subjects urinary citrate was 0.8-3.2mmol/24h and oxalate was 0.04-0.44mmol/24h. The frequency of hypocitraturia in 68 lithiasic patients was significantly lower when these limits were taken as reference, as compared with the frequencies obtained using normal values from other popula- tions. The results show the importance of determining normal values for these variables in each population, so as to use them a...