Abstract
Context: Tribulus terrestris L. (Zygophyllaceae) fruits have long been used in traditional systems of medicine for the treatment of various urinary diseases including urolithiasis. Objective: To explore the anti-urolithiatic potential of gokhru and to develop an analytical method for quantitative estimation of metabolites for its quality control. Materials and methods: Aqueous extract of gokhru fruit was prepared through maceration followed by decoction to produce a mother extract, which was further used for polarity-based fractionations. In vitro and ex vivo anti-urolithiatic activity of mother extract and fractions at different concentration (100–1000 μg/mL) were carried out using aggregation assay in synthetic urine and in rat plasma, however, nucleation assay for 30 min was done using confocal microscopy. A simultaneous HPLC method has been developed for quantification of diosgenin, catechin, rutin, gallic acid, tannic acid and quercetin in mother extract and in fractions. Results: The extraction resulted in 14.5% of w/w mother extract, however, polarity-based fractionation yielded 2.1, 2.6, 1.5, 1.3 and 6.1% w/w of hexane, toluene, dichloromethane (DCM), n-butanol and water fractions, respectively. In vitro and ex vivo studies showed a significant anti-urolithiatic potential of n-butanol fraction. Further, HPLC analysis revealed significantly (p < 0.01) higher content of quercetin (1.95 ± 0.41% w/w), diosgenin (12.75 ± 0.18% w/w) and tannic acid (9.81 ± 0.47% w/w) in n-butanol fraction as compared to others fractions. Discussion and conclusion: In vitro and ex vivo studies demonstrated potent anti-urolithiatic activity of n-butanol fraction which can be developed as new phytopharmaceuticals for urolithiasis. HPLC method can be used for quality control and pharmacokinetic studies of gokhru.
Highlights
Tribulus terrestris L. (Zygophyllaceae) fruits, a natural herb known as gokhru, have long been used in both Indian and Chinese systems of medicine for the management of the various diseases
Materials and methods: Aqueous extract of gokhru fruit was prepared through maceration followed by decoction to produce a mother extract, which was further used for polarity-based fractionations
The maceration extraction was selected for study due to its high yields and called as mother extract (14.5% w/w).This was further fractionated using hexane (2.1% w/w), toluene (2.6% w/w), DCM (1.5% w/w), n-butanol (1.3% w/w) and water (6.1% w/w)
Summary
Tribulus terrestris L. (Zygophyllaceae) fruits, a natural herb known as gokhru, have long been used in both Indian and Chinese systems of medicine for the management of the various diseases. It has been reported to have diuretic (Al-Ali et al 2003), aphrodisiac (Adaikan et al 2001), immunomodulatory (Tilwari et al 2011), antilithiatic (Aggarwal et al 2012; Saxena & Argal 2015), antidiabetic (Li et al 2002), hypolipidaemic, antidepressant (Deole et al 2011), cardiotonic, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, anticancer, antibacterial, anthelmintic and antispasmodic activities (Chhatre et al 2014). The anti-urolithiatic activity of gokhru was suggested due to the presence of quercetin and kaempferol in chloroform fractions of methanolic extracts, which attributed glycolate oxidase (GOX) inhibition resulting in oxalate synthesis inhibition (Shirfule et al 2011). Bearing in mind the potential of gokhru extracts to treat kidney, the present study was proposed to find out the major metabolites of gokhru responsible for its pharmacological activity by testing its polarity-based fractions against aggregation and nucleation assay followed by analysis of metabolites. Other constituents found in gokhru are diosgenin, neogitogenin, hecogenin, kaemferol-3glucoside, quercetin 3-O-rutinoside (Matin et al 2008), tribuloside and caffeoyl (Chhatre et al 2014)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
