In Vitro Antilithiasis Activity of Melastoma malabathricum Linn

Urolithiasis is a painful disease that affects the human population in every part of the world and majority of cases of renal lithiasis have calcium oxalate. The present study was carried out to study effect of M. malabathricum on calcium oxalate crystals in vitro and to determine the relationship between total flavonoid content and anti-crystallization activity of different extract. Four different extract from different parts of M. malabathricum were studied to determine the part with higher activity against calcium oxalate crystallization.The leaf of M. malabathricum demonstrated the highest crystal growth inhibition activity compared to other parts of the plant. The leaf extract was further fractionated by column chromatography. The fractions were studied for total flavonoid content as well as crystal growth inhibition and Spearman correlation showed that there was a good correlation between TFC and antilithiasis activity with the F1 fraction having highest activity. The activity of the F1 fraction was confirmed by calcium oxalate aggregation assay and microscopic examination. The higher content of flavonoids and calcium oxalate antilithiasis activity of the leaves suggest further studies for development of newer effective drugs from this herb. Keywords: M. malabathricum, calcium oxalate, crystallization, lithiasis and total flavonoid content