Studies on the effect of xylitol on oxalate formation

Abstract The excretion of [ 14 C]oxalate after parenteral administration of [U- 14 C]xylitol, [U- 14 ]fructose, [U- 14 C]glucose [U- 14 C]sorbitol and [U- 14 C]glycine has been studied in normally fed rats. All of these compounds were about equally effective as precursors of the urinary oxalate. The effect of xylitol on the NAD + -dependent catalytic oxidation of glyoxylate to oxalate has also been investigated in rat liver cytosol, this reaction being the last step on the oxalate biosynthetic pathway. Xylitol slightly decreased oxalate production from glyoxylate in this system. These results are discussed in relation to the observation that the clinical use of xylitol for parenteral nutrition is sometimes complicated by renal failure with deposits of calcium oxalate in the renal tubules.