Citrate Unit Converter

Citrate is a naturally occurring molecule best known as an intermediate in the citric acid (Krebs) cycle, the central energy-producing pathway in every cell. When measured in a 24-hour urine collection, it reflects how much citrate your kidneys excrete.

In the urinary tract, citrate acts as one of the body's main natural inhibitors of kidney stone formation. It binds to calcium, keeping it dissolved and preventing calcium-based crystals from growing and clumping together.

Low urinary citrate (hypocitraturia, defined as less than 320 mg per day) is found in roughly 30% of people who form kidney stones and is one of the most common and treatable metabolic risk factors for stone disease.

Citrate is produced in the mitochondria of every cell when acetyl-CoA and oxaloacetate combine at the start of the Krebs cycle. The kidneys filter it from blood, and the proximal tubule reabsorbs or excretes it depending on the body's acid-base status.