"Inhibition of kidney stone formation by herbal extracts – a spectroscopic study”

by Dr. Felicia S. Manciu

Department of Physics UTEP

When: Oct. 20, 2010 at 4:30 PM

Where: (PSCI Room: 115)

Although a considerable number of investigations have already been undertaken and many causes such as life habits, metabolic disorders, and genetic factors have been noted as sources that accelerate calculi deposition and aggregation, there are still plenty of unanswered questions regarding efficient inhibition and treatment mechanisms.  Thus, in an attempt to acquire more insights, we present here detailed multi-technique spectroscopic investigations of kidney stone formation and growth inhibition based on a traditional medicine approach with Rotula Aquatica Lour and Larrea Tridentata herbal extracts. Raman, infrared absorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and photoluminescence were used to analyze the effects of herbal inhibitors on the synthetic growth of calculi by a simplified single diffusion gel technique. A visible decrease in calculi sizes with increasing amounts of herbal infusion was observed in photomicrographs, as well as a color change from white-transparent for pure crystals to black for crystals with Rotula Aquatica Lour inhibitor and to light orange-brown for crystals with Larrea Tridentata inhibitor. The resulting spectroscopic data support the possibility of the magnesium of the inhibitor binding with phosphate or carbonyl oxygen associated with different types of kidney stones. Morphological changes from a monohydrate structure for the crystals grown alone to a dihydrate morphology with the addition of inhibitor were also observed for calcium oxalate samples.  The main focus of this work is to demonstrate the usefulness of optical spectroscopy, which could serve as an important source of information on this tantalizing and complex problem, which is far from being completely understood.

Refreshments will be served at 4:15 pm