A comparative pilot study of litholytic properties of Celosia argental (Sitivaraka) versus potassium citrate in renal calculus disease.

Dear Editor: Nephrolithiasis is a global problem from ancient times and many remedies have been used over the ages. Its incidence varies in different parts of world, and many factors are contributory, such as high intake of animal proteins, wheat diets, and hot and dry climate, which might augment the risk of stone formation. In industrialized nations, it affects about 10% of the population with an annual incidence of 0.5%–1.9%. In India, the incidence of renal stone is still high (30 of 1000 population). It is more common in Northern India compared to the southern state. Calcium oxalate urolithiasis accounts for approximately 75% of urinary stone disease in the United States. In Ayurvedic literature, a number of drugs have been described that are very effective against nephrolithiasis. Kulattha, Sitivaraka, Varun, and Sighru are among them. We conducted a study to compare the efficacy of herbal medicine, Sitivaraka (Celosia argental) with potassium citrate as litholytic agent in urinary stone diseases. The ethical committee of the university had approved the study. In this randomized, controlled, open-label trial, we selected 44 patients with renal stones and randomly divided them into two groups to receive the drugs. Group I received Sitivaraka seed preparation (dose: 10 mg/kg body weight 3 times daily) and group II received potassium citrate (dose: 0.25 mL/kg body weight every 6 hours). A total of 21 cases were in group I and 23 cases were in group II. Inclusion criteria were the following: