Effect of Euphorbia hirta root extract on struvite crystals

Abstract

To investigate the inhibitory effect of ethanolic extract of root of Euphorbia hirta on the growth of struvite crystals. Struvite crystals were grown by the single diffusion gel growth technique and the inhibitory effect of ethanolic extract of root of Euphorbia hirta on the growth of struvite crystals has been studied. The crystals were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) to confirm the functional groups and Powder X-Ray Diffraction technique (XRD) analysis to confirm the crystalline phases of the struvite crystals. The ethanolic extract of root of Euphorbia hirta gradually reduce the weight of the formed struvite crystals reduced from 0.77 gm to 0.23gm Results obtained are indicated that root of Euphorbia hirta have the potential to inhibit the formation of struvite crystals. This study confirms that using ethanolic extract of root of Euphorbia hirta can reduce the nucleation rate of struvite crystals, a major component of triple phosphate urinary stone.