Effect of Blumea Balsamifera Extract in the Kinetics of Calcium Oxalate Crystallisation

Abstract

Calcium oxalate stones comprise a large number of kidney stone cases. Kidney stone treatment with medicinal herbs such as Blumea balsamifera (B. balsamifera) had been practiced traditionally. In this study, the effect of B. balsamifera extract on the crystallisation of calcium oxalate was determined by modelling Ca²⁺ concentration in solutions. Crystallisation was performed by mixing equal concentrations of Ca²⁺ and C₂O₄^2- at200 rpm and supersaturations of 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40. Ca²⁺ concentration was measured using potentiometry. A second order kinetic model best fitted the concentration-time data with an average correlation coefficient of 0.9759 ± 0.0155. The rate constant is increased by the presence of the extract with a maximumincrease of 6,460 % from 0.0152 ± 0.0079 ppm^-1 s^-1 to 0.9993 ± 0.5524 ppm^-1 s^-1 at a supersaturation of 30 and 0.5 mg/mL of extract. The minimum increase in rate constant was observed at supersaturation of 25 and1.0 mg/mL of extract from 0.0088 ± 0.0058 ppm^-1 s^-1 to 0.0120 ± 0.0020 ppm^-1 s^-1 corresponding to a 36.71 % change. The extract increased the rate of crystallisation, consistent with the findings from other studies using different approaches. An increased crystallisation rate would favour the formation of smaller crystals that are easily eliminated from the urinary system.