Abstract:
Urolithiasis is the accumulation and development of stones in any area of the urinary
system. Most stones are primarily composed of calcium oxalate as the forms of monohydrate
and dihydrate. There is a high demand for the ayurvedic medicine to treat
urolithiasis due to lack of successful drugs. The objective of this study was to determine
the effect of some selected herbs on inhibition of urolithiasis in-vitro. Aqueous and
ethanol extracts of Bacopa monnieri whole plant, seeds of Cucumis melo, vegetative
parts of Hygrophila auriculata and Vernonia cinerea were used for the study. Trisodium
citrate was used as the positive control. Anti-urolithiasis activity was evaluated using
UV/visible spectrophotometry by measuring crystallization kinetics of calcium oxalate
in the presence and the absence of ethanol and water extracts of each sample by
turbidimetry (620 nm) at 37 . Rates of crystal aggregation were calculated from
the maximum slope of the aggregation graph or maximum decrease in optical density.
Plateau time was calculated for all the extracts using aggregation graph. Morphological
changes of calcium oxalate crystals in the presence and the absence of different extracts
or positive control were observed under the light microscope. The results showed that
water and ethanolic extracts of Hygrophila auriculata, Cucumis melo seeds and Bacopa
monnieri have different capacity of inhibiting the aggregation of calcium oxalate crystals
at different concentration whereas Vernonia cinerea plant extracts did not show
considerable capacity. Water extract of Hygrophila auriculata showed the highest anti
urolithiasis activity (having the lowest IC50 value = 123.99±37.44 ppm). Our findings
shed some light on traditional use of Hygrophila auriculata, Cucumis melo seeds and
Bacopa monnieri in the treatment of urolithiasis.
