Abstract

Urinary lithiasis is one of the most common diseases and poses a major threat to global health. It affects approximately 7% of women and 13% of men. It is caused by a biochemical imbalance in the urine between inhibitors and promoters, as well as by stone formation processes known as lithogenesis. Various factors contribute to the etiology of this disease, including anatomical, environmental, genetic, and nutritional factors. Approximately 80% of urinary stones are composed of calcium oxalate, which occurs in several crystalline forms, including whewellite (monohydrate) and weddellite (dihydrate). Conventional treatment for urinary lithiasis is burdensome and accompanied by significant side effects; the side effects and high cost of these treatments make herbal medicine a promising alternative. The objective of this study was to experimentally investigate the anti-lithiasis activity of the methanolic extract of Saussurea costus (Falc.) Lipsch.

The S. costus plant was extracted using the Soxhlet technique, then subjected to phytochemical screening to determine the secondary metabolites present in the extract. Next, the anti-lithiasic activity of this plant was tested using turbidimetric methods, with a UV spectrophotometer and a polarized microscope, to observe the crystallization of calcium oxalate. This activity was then evaluated in rats, which were induced with ethylene glycol and then treated with doses of ethanolic and aqueous extracts of the plant.

The extract of S. costus reveals the presence of sterols, terpenes, steroidal glycosides, flavonoids, tannins, quinones, and alkaloids. The methanol extract showed significant inhibition of crystal growth at 2 mg/ml, reducing the number of crystals from 300 to 100 mm3 at concentrations of 0.5 to 2 mg/ml. The in vivo model confirmed the anti-lithiasic effects of the methanol extract, with biochemical parameters similar to those of the control group. Our results show that the ethanolic extract of S. costus could be an effective herbal treatment for calcium oxalate crystals in weddellite and whewellite.