Microbial communities on kidney stones

Clinical material obtained surgically from patients with kidney-stone disease (KSD) was tested for the composition and state of stone microflora using the standard microbiological methods, PCR, and modern microscopy technologies. It was demonstrated that about 50% of stones in patients with KSD were infected with various infection agents, as observed using the standard microbiological and molecular-genetic meth-ods. The percentage of Mycoplasma hominis detected using the cultural method is lower than that provided by PCR, which is due to the difficulty of isolation and cultivation, as well as DNA fragments of mycoplasma observed after antibiotic therapy. Studies based on the modern microscopy technologies revealed that micro-organisms on the kidney stone surface formed multispecies biofilms.