Abstract
Nephrolithiasis is a common, painful, costly and recurrent disease, the management of which remains to be an enigma. Phytotherapeutics could be useful as either alternative or complementary therapies in the management of nephrolithiasis. This study was designed to test the efficacy of Cymbopogon proximus (CP), a traditional Sudanese plant commonly known as “Mahareb”, in preventing ethylene glycol-induced nephrolithiasis in rats. Thirty male Wistar albino rats were divided randomly into 3 groups of 10. Group 1 was the normal control. Group 2 (stone group) had free access to drinking water containing 0.75% ethylene glycol (EG) and 2% ammonium chloride (AC). Group 3 (test group) was treated as group 2 and was simultaneously injected with C. proximus 5% aqueous extract at a dose of 1.5 ml/100 g body weight/day for 10 days. At the end of the treatment period, serum levels of creatinine, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), calcium and phosphorous were determined; measurements of kidney calcium levels were also performed and kidney histopathological examinations were done. The stone group had the highest levels of serum calcium and BUN as well as the highest kidney calcium level. Large crystal deposits were also seen in this group. The CP treated group showed significantly lower levels of serum calcium, serum BUN and kidney calcium (p<0.01); crystal deposits were not observed in this group. The results obtained suggest that CP has a significant protective effect against ethylene glycol-induced nephrolithiasis in rats. Key words: Sudanese herbal medicine, Cymbopogon proximus, nephrolithisis, calcium oxalate, ethylene glycol, ammonium chloride, aqueous extract.
Highlights
Kidney stone disease or nephrolithiasis is a common disease with an increasing incidence (Hiatt and Friedman, 1982)
These preventive measures have improved the medical management of nephrolithiasis and lead to reduction in the rates of stone formation and prolongation of the post surgical stone-free periods (Ruml et al, 1997), stone recurrence can be reduced by only half, and there is so far no satisfactory drug for the treatment of nephrolithiasis, especially for the prevention or the recurrence
Due to the complications of nephrolithiasis treatment along with the worldwide resurgence of interest in medicinal plants and phytotherapy (Johnston, 1997; Bennett and Jand Brown, 2000), there has been a trend to look for alternative antiurolithic treatments from natural sources and to test the antilithic remedies that are found in many traditional systems of medicine all over the world (Atmani et al, 2003; Atmani, 2003; Butterweck and Khan, 2009)
Summary
Kidney stone disease or nephrolithiasis is a common disease with an increasing incidence (Hiatt and Friedman, 1982). It is characterized by a high rate of recurrence (Uribarri et al, 1989), prevention is widely recommended. Available options for the treatment or prevention of nephrolithiasis are costly, ineffective in all patients or not without side effects (Atmani et al, 2003; Johri et al., 2010). Alternative treatments have been sought especially from herbal medicines, in conjunction with the resurgence of interest in phytotherapy and medicinal plants, as sources of effective, safe, cheap, and socially accepted treatments (Atmani et al, 2003; Johnston, 1997; Bennett and Jand Brown, 2000). There are several antiurolithic herbal remedies provided by many
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