Urolithiasis: Critical Analysis of Mechanism of Renal Stone Formation and Use of Medicinal Plants as Antiurolithiatic Agents

摘要

Urolithiasis is one of the important constraints in livestock as well as human health globally since last decades. With its multi-factorial etiology, high rate of reoccurrence and treatment failure, urinary stone diseases provides a medico-vet challenge. In spite of substantial progress in the study of physiological manifestation of urolithiasis, its exact mechanism is still not clearly understood. The recent proposed mechanism of stone formation involves urinary supersaturation, crystal nucleation, precipitation, growth, aggregation of crystals and their retention in renal tubular epithelial cells. There is no satisfactory drug available for the treatment of urolithiasis, especially for the prevention of its recurrence. At present time conventional treatments including alkali therapy, thiazide diuretics and allopurinol are somewhat effective for various types of urolithiasis, but none of them are 100% effective. Medicinal plants have also been used as an alternative therapy for both prevention and treatment of kidney stone diseases since ancient Vedic era. Now-a-days various researchers also shifted towards medicinal plant s for evaluating their antiurolithiatic efficacy but, most of the plants were yet to be scientifically validated. This review presents a comprehensive account of the mechanism of renal stone formation, role of inhibitors and promoters in calcium oxalate crystallisation as well as its risk factor analysis and use of medicinal plant s as antiurolithiatic agent in animals.