Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Urolithiasis DOI 10.1007/s00240-017-0967-0 ORIGINAL PAPER Toward a new insight of calcium oxalate stones in Drosophila by micro-computerized tomography Wen-Chi Chen 1,2  · Huey-Yi Chen 1,2  · Po-Chi Liao 3  · Shih-Jing Wang 1  · Ming-Yen Tsai 1,4  · Yung-Hsiang Chen 1,2,5  · Wei-Yong Lin 1,2   Received: 25 October 2016 / Accepted: 4 February 2017 © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2017 Reconstruction of sections was carried out with the GPU- based scanner software. Specifc region of interests was further analyzed by DataViewer software. Area with high radiologic density level was defned as CaOx deposition for further 3D analysis. Image of whole lithogenic Drosophila was compared with control. High radiologic density level was detected in the region of Malphigian tubules which can be identifed as CaOx stones. There was no stone image in the control group. The image was the same as human non- contrast CT for the diagnosis of stone disease. Micro-CT clearly demonstrated the calcium oxalate calcifcations in the Malphigian tubules of fruit fy. The image system provides that a new vision on study animal will facilitate further study of stone disease. With the development of new technology on micro-CT, more delicate and advanced image will be presented in the future. Keywords Calcium oxalate · Drosophila melanogaster · Ethylene glycol · Micro-computerized tomography · Nephrolithiasis/urolithiasis Introduction Several animal species, including rats, are used to study calcium oxalate urolithiasis; however, an ideal model has yet to be identifed [1–3]. We previously developed an ani- mal model of calcium oxalate (CaOx) deposition on the Malphigian tubules of Drosophila melanogaster as a model of urolithiasis [4, 5]. There is a new tool for the study of anatomical structure for Drosophila. Due to high sensitiv- ity and specifcity, non-contrast abdomen computerized tomography (NCCT) scan has been widely used and as a new golden standard as an image study for the human study [6]. At present, NCCT is not only used for the detection of Abstract We previously developed an animal model of calcium oxalate (CaOx) deposition on the Malphigian tubules of Drosophila melanogaster as a model of urolithi- asis. Here, we introduce a new tool for the study of anatom- ical structure for Drosophila. As a consequence of technical development, the invention of micro-computerized tomog- raphy (CT) has been introduced to the small animal, such as rat and mice. We used Drosophila as a model organism and fed the fies 0.5% lithogenic agent ethylene glycol for 3 weeks. Samples were simply prepared for further scanned by micro-CT to scan samples at 800 nm resolution. CT scanning was performed at 40 kVp of voltage, 250 μA of current, and 1750 ms of exposure time and without flter. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00240-017-0967-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Yung-Hsiang Chen yhchen@mail.cmu.edu.tw * Wei-Yong Lin linwy@mail.cmu.edu.tw 1 Graduate Institute of Integrated Medicine, College of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University, No. 91, Hsueh-Shih Road, Taichung 40402, Taiwan, Republic of China 2 Departments of Urology, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Medical Research, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan, Republic of China 3 Department of Urology, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan, Republic of China 4 Department of Chinese Medicine, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Republic of China 5 Department of Psychology, College of Medical and Health Science, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan, Republic of China