This Chinese fruit would contain a molecule that could be effective in the treatment of kidney stones, according to work carried out in vitro.
Mangosteen, a new weapon against kidney stones? A study published in the journal Nature demonstrates the effectiveness of an extract contained in this Chinese fruit in the treatment of kidney stones. The results seem promising for this disorder which affects 12% of men, and 7% of women in the world.
A disorder also very painful, at the origin of renal colic, and due to the presence of an obstacle in one of the channels that leads urine from the kidneys to the bladder, the ureters. This obstacle is most often a stone, or “renal lithiasis”, which causes the accumulation of urine and the distension of the ureter as well as the upstream kidney.
Dissolution in vitro
Nothing very encouraging, therefore, especially since it is necessary to get rid of the kidney stone to relieve the pain and protect the kidney. Most often, excretion occurs naturally through the urinary tract, a particularly difficult time to go through – but sometimes surgery is required.
Scientists at the University of Houston (United States) have studied the benefits of hydroxycitrate, a natural extract of mangosteen, present in several food supplements. They observed that hydroxycitrate was able to dissolve, in vitro, a certain number of these stones, composed of calcium oxalate. The substance has been shown to be more effective than the conventional treatment, citrate. Results which however need to be confirmed by other in vivo studies.
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