A review on herbal drugs in the management of Urolithiasis

Abstract

Kidney stone is a common and painful condition affects millions of people worldwide. Due to the side-effects of synthetic medicines, herbal drugs are considered as a remedy for kidney stone. This review aims to summarize the importance of herbal medicines for the treatment of kidney stone. A vast literature search was conducted to study about the herbal extracts and compounds for the antiurolithic activity. These herbal extracts have the ability to inhibit calcium oxalate stones, primary reason for kidney stone. Many medicinal plants including Clitoria ternatea, Phyllanthus niruri, Annona squamosa and Crateva magna have demonstrated significant in-vitro and in-vivo antiurolithic activity. The phytochemicals such as flavonoids, alkaloids and glycosides are found to be responsible for the inhibition of calcium oxalate stones and also for the reduction of the stone’s size.