Abstract:
A wide range of plants and plant-derived products are used in folk medicine for the treatment of urolithiasis as a prophylactic agent or as curative agent. Most of them found to be effective, but still the complete mechanism of action of these herbal drugs remains to be unclear. In present review we are discussing the various mechanism of action through which phytotheraeupatic agents exert their antiurolithiatic effect. Unlike allopathic medicines which targets only one aspect of urolithiatic pathophysiology, most of plant based therapy have been shown to be effective at different stages of stone pathophysiology. Currently known herbal drugs exert their antilithogenic properties by altering the ionic composition of urine viz.; decreasing the calcium and oxalate ion concentration or increasing magnesium and citrate excretion. Most of these remedies also express diuretic activity or lithotriptic activity. Some of the herbal drugs reported to disaggregate of mucoproteins, which are actually binds the crystal to the renal cells. Some medicinal plants contain chemical compounds like Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) which themselves possess an inhibitory effect in the crystallization of calcium oxalate. Antioxidant constituents of the plants also help in ameliorating the crystal/oxalate induced renal cell injury. Thus, antiurolithiatic activity of plants or herbal formulation may be due to synergism of their diuretic activity, crystallization inhibition along with antioxidant activity.
Surendra K. Pareta, Kartik C. Patra, Papiya M. Mazumder and Dinakar Sasmal, 2011. Establishing the Principle of Herbal Therapy for Antiurolithiatic Activity: A Review. Journal of Pharmacology and Toxicology, 6: 321-332.
26 January, 2011
K. jayaram kumar: It is a very excellent article clearly describing the all possible mechanism of herbal drugs in treatment of urolithiasis. I am thinking it will be very help full for researchers.
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