In-vitro Evaluation of Anti-Urolithiatic Activity of Cuminum Cyminum Seed Extract on Calcium Oxalate Stone

Literature Review

Nowadays stone formation is the oldest and serious painful urologic disease with significant prevalence in the population due to change in lifestyle and dietary factors. Stone formation or lithiasis is characterized by calculi formation. It has two main types such as nephrolithiasis and urolithiasis. Calculi formation in urinary bladder, ureter, or any part of Urinary Tract rather than kidney is known as urolithiasis while nephrolithiasis is characterized calculi formation in kidney [2].

Calcium oxalate stones represent up to 80% of analysed stones. Calcium phosphate account for 15-25%, while 10- 15% is mixed stones. The others are struvite 15-3-%, cystine 6-10% and uric acid stones 2-10%. Calcium oxalate stones are of primary two types, Calcium oxalate monohydrate and Calcium oxalate dihydrate. The occurrence of frequency of Calcium oxalate monohydrate is 78% while that of Calcium oxalate dihydrate is 43% [6].

The treatment of urolithiasis involves the dissolution of existing stones and preventing the reoccurrence of stones. An alarming rise in the incidence and recurrence of urolithiasis coupled with adverse effects allopathic drugs necessitates exploration of traditional mode of treatment [1].

Medicinal plants are considered as a rich source of therapeutic agents due to the belief and observations regarding traditionally used medicinal plants for the prevention of various ailments. According to WHO 75% people rely on traditional medicines for the prevention and cure of different ailments. Several plants are employed to cure and prevent urolithiasis. Although medicinal plants produce slow recovery, these are affordable and less expensive, evidence based traditionally proven dissolution or elimination of kidney stones, less relapse of urolithiasis, their successful prophylactic use, less side effects, not only revealing their therapeutic potential but encourages patient’s belief and increasing their interest in traditional practices to find an herbal cure for kidney stones. The belief and observations regarding traditionally used medicinal plants, increasing the interest of people to use natural medicine for their primary health care needs. A wide range of medicinal plants have been used in different countries and cultures as a prophylactic and curative agent for urolithiasis [4].

Many medicines and remedies have been used during the past many years to treat urinary stones. Generally, in the traditional system of medicine, the majority of the remedies are based on plants and they were proved to be useful though the rationale behind their use is not well established through systematic pharmacological and clinical studies expect for some composite herbal drugs and plants [7].

Cumin (Cuminum cyminum) is an aromatic herb of the Apicaceae family, and its dried seeds are used as a spice. It is native to India, Iran, the Mediterranean, and Egypt [8]. Cumin seeds are liberally used in several cuisines of many different food cultures since ancient times, in both whole and ground forms. In India, cumin seeds have been used for thousands of years as a traditional ingredient of innumerable dishes including kormas and soups and form an ingredient of several other spice blends. Besides food use, it has also many applications in traditional medicine. In the Ayurvedic system of medicine in India, cumin seeds have immense medicinal value, particularly for digestive disorders. They are used in chronic diarrhoea and dyspepsia [9].

Discussion

Nephrolithiasis or renal stone disease remains a significant health problem in the adult population, with serious medical consequences, throughout a patient’s life time. The world-wide incidence urolithiais is quite high, and more than 80% of urinary calculi are Calcium oxalate stones alone or Calcium oxalate mixed with calcium phosphate [11].

Medicinal plants being used in healthcare system since time immemorial and studies being carried out all over the world in order to verify their efficacy and sum of the discoveries have led to the production of plant-based medicine [12].

In spite of substantial progress in the pathophysiology and treatment of urolithiasis, there is no satisfactory drug being used in clinical therapy. Endoscopic stone removal and extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy are prohibitively costly, and recurrence is quite common with these procedures. Thus, a drug for the prevention of this disease or its recurrence would be of great interest. Medicinal plants have played a significant role in various ancient traditional systems of medication. Even today, plants provide a cheap source of drugs for majority of world’s population. Several pharmacological investigations on the medicinal plants used in traditional antiurolithic therapy have revealed their therapeutic potential in the invitro models [3].

Drug therapy has developed in response to population health care needs. Among the promising areas of research and development of medicines from the vast highly potential plant resources. Plants are also attractive sources for the development of novel and very effective and safe therapeutic agents against kidney procumbence. Herbal medicines are also in great demand in the developed world for primary health care because of their efficacy, safety and lesser side effects [11].

Unlike allopathic medicines which target is only one aspect of urolithiatic pathophysiology, most of plant-based therapy have been shown to be effective at different stages of stone pathophysiology. About 80% of the world populations rely on the use of traditional medicine which is predominantly based on plant materials. Lithiasis (stone formation) is an important cause for acute and chronic renal failure, includes both nephrolithiasis (stone formation in kidney) and urolithiasis (stone formation in ureter or bladder or both). Among the various kinds of stones identified, calcium stones occur mainly in Men, while phosphate stones formation is more in women [3].

Among the diversity of plants Cuminum cyminum is an aromatic herb of the Apicaceae family, and its dried seeds are used as a spice. It is native to India, Iran, the Mediterranean, and Egypt. The cumin seed has many pharmacological activities which were reported by the previous research. This study evaluates the Anti -urolithiatic activity of seed extract of Cuminum cyminum. The highest percentage 41.80% of Calcium oxalate dissolution was obseverd in 30mg/ml seed extract. Cuminum cyminum was found to be more effective in dissolution of Calcium oxalate than standard drug cystone. From this study it was observed that the highest dissolution of Calcium oxalate was increased with the concentration of test drug increses. This study has given primary evidence for Cuminum cyminum as the plant which possess lithotriptic property.

Conclusion

Invitro Anti- urolithiatic activity has been performed on the selected plant Cuminum cyminum seed extract by using the standard drug cystone by titrimetry method. The work was performed by using invitro Anti- urolithiatic model for Calculating percentage dissolution of Calcium oxalate stone. The seed extract of Cuminum cyminum showed the higher dissolution than the standard drug cystone. The 30mg/ ml seed extract of Cuminum cyminum was highest among the test groups. This study has been primary evidence for Cuminum cyminum as the plant which possess Anti- urolithiatic property.

Reference

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12. Babu M, Uma KH, Joseph S, AmoolyaSree, Scariya S, et al. (2021) Invitro evaluation of Anti- urolithiatic and Larvicidal activity of Alternanthera sessilis. Biomed Pharmacol J 14(2): 671-680.