Evaluation of Safety and Efficacy of Welstone™️Drops in Experimentally-Induced Calcium Oxalate Urolithiasis in Rats
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.48165/ahr.2026.11.3.2Keywords:
Urolithiasis, WelstoneTM, ethylene glycol, ammonium chloride, calcium oxalate, renal function, homeopathy, Wistar ratsAbstract
Background Urolithiasis is a recurrent urinary disorder characterized by crystal formation and deposition within the urinary tract, with CaOx being the predominant stone type. The present study evaluated the safety and antiurolithiatic efficacy of three variants of the homeopathic formulations, with the objective of commercializing the most efficacious and safe formulation under the brand name Welstone™️, in an experimental model of urolithiasis. The safety and efficacy of Welstone™️ compared with the controls are presented in this paper.
Materials & Methods Male Wistar rats were allocated into 12 groups (n = 6/group). Urolithiasis was induced using 0.75% v/v ethylene glycol (EG) and 1% w/v ammonium chloride (AC) in drinking water for the initial 7 days, followed by 0.75% EG until Day 28. Three homeopathic formulations were administered orally at low, medium, and high dose levels in 9 different groups from Day 8 to Day 28, while Cystone® (750 mg/kg) served as the reference standard. Treatment effects were assessed through body-weight changes, renal biochemical and mineral parameters, absolute and relative kidney weights, and renal histopathological evaluation.
Results EG + AC exposure impaired body-weight gain and increased serum creatinine, urea, blood urea nitrogen, uric acid, calcium, phosphorus, and kidney weight, accompanied by marked renal histopathological alterations. Treatment with Welstone™ at low, medium, and high doses attenuated these changes to varying degrees. Welstone™ at the high dose showed the most consistent overall response, with improvement in renal biochemical and mineral parameters, body-weight gain, kidney weight, and preservation of renal architecture, while the Low and Medium doses also improved relative to the disease-control group. The concordance between biochemical improvement and histopathological recovery supports the antiurolithiatic potential of Welstone™ in this experimental model.
Conclusion Improvements in biochemical parameters and kidney histoarchitecture suggest that Welstone™️ has antiurolithiatic potential in EG + AC-induced experimental urolithiasis. Among the doses tested, the high dose of Welstone™️ showed the most consistent response, with effects comparable to the standard treatment. Further studies are needed to elucidate its mechanism of action through the assessment of urinary lithogenic factors and quantitative calcium oxalate (CaOx) crystal formation.
References
Türk, C. (2020). EAU guidelines on urolithiasis. European Association of Urology, 28.
Pearle, M. S., Goldfarb, D. S., Assimos, D. G., Curhan, G., Denu-Ciocca, C. J., Matlaga, B. R., Monga, M., Penniston, K. L., Preminger, G. M., Türk, T. M., & White, J. R. (2014). Medical management of kidney stones: AUA guideline. The Journal of Urology, 192(2), 316–324.
Sorokin, I., Mamoulakis, C., Miyazawa, K., Rodgers, A., Talati, J., & Lotan, Y. (2017). Epidemiology of stone disease across the world. World Journal of Urology, 35(9), 1301–1320.
Khan, S. R., Pearle, M. S., Robertson, W. G., Gambaro, G., Canales, B. K., Doizi, S., Traxer, O., & Tiselius, H. G. (2016). Kidney stones. Nature Reviews Disease Primers, 2(1), 16008.
Khan, S. R. (2014). Reactive oxygen species, inflammation and CaOx nephrolithiasis. Translational Andrology and Urology, 3(3), 256.
Aggarwal, K. P., Narula, S., Kakkar, M., & Tandon, C. (2013). Nephrolithiasis: Molecular mechanism of renal stone formation and the critical role played by modulators. BioMed Research International, 2013, 292953.
Boericke, W. (2002). New manual of homoeopathic materia medica & repertory: With relationship of remedies (2nd re-augmented & revised ed., reprint ed.). B. Jain Publishers.
Clarke, J. H. (1992). Dictionary of practical materia medica (Reprint ed.). B. Jain Publishers.
Das, I., Gupta, S. K., Pandey, V. N., & Ansari, S. A. (2004). Inhibition and dissolution of CaOx crystals by Berberis vulgaris-Q and other metabolites. Journal of Crystal Growth, 267(3–4), 654–661.
Atmani, F., & Khan, S. R. (2000). Effects of an extract from Herniaria hirsuta on CaOx crystallization in vitro. BJU International, 85(6), 621–625.
Katsuma, S., Shiojima, S., Hirasawa, A., Takagaki, K., Kaminishi, Y., Koba, M., Hagidai, Y., Murai, M., Ohgi, T., Yano, J., & Tsujimoto, G. (2002). Global analysis of differentially expressed genes during progression of calcium oxalate nephrolithiasis. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 296(3), 544–552.
Partovi, N., Fatemi, S. J., & Ebadzadeh, M. R. (2024). Antiurolithiatic effects of Cassia fistula Linn. fruit extracts on ethylene glycol-induced nephrolithiasis in rats. Microscopy Research and Technique, 87(7), 1494–1506.
Yuan, S., Ibrahim, I. A., & Ren, R. (2023). Anti-urolithiatic activity of daidzin in ethylene glycol-induced urolithiasis in rats. Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology, 195(2), 905–918.
Azimi, A., Eidi, A., Mortazavi, P., & Haeri Rohani, A. (2021). Protective effect of apigenin on ethylene glycol-induced urolithiasis via attenuating oxidative stress and inflammatory parameters in adult male Wistar rats. Life Sciences, 279, 119641. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lfs.2021.119641
Das, I., Gupta, S. K., Pandey, V. N., & Ansari, S. A. (2004). Inhibition and dissolution of CaOx crystals by Berberis vulgaris-Q and other metabolites. Journal of Crystal Growth, 267(3–4), 654–661.
Jyothilakshmi, V., Thellamudhu, G., Kumar, A., Khurana, A., Nayak, D., & Kalaiselvi, P. (2013). Preliminary investigation on ultra high diluted B. vulgaris in experimental urolithiasis. Homeopathy, 102(3), 172–178.
Jarald, E. E., Kushwah, P., Edwin, S., Asghar, S., & Patni, S. A. (2011). Effect of Unex on ethylene glycol-induced urolithiasis in rats. Indian Journal of Pharmacology, 43(4), 466.
Shukla, A. B., Mandavia, D. R., Barvaliya, M. J., Baxi, S. N., & Tripathi, C. R. (2014). Evaluation of anti-urolithiatic effect of aqueous extract of Bryophyllum pinnatum (Lam.) leaves using ethylene glycol-induced renal calculi. Avicenna Journal of Phytomedicine, 4(3), 151.
Telang, R. (2021). An in vitro study of Hydrangea arborescens, homoeopathic preparation as an inhibitor of calcium oxalate crystallisation. Indian Journal of Research in Homoeopathy, 15(1), 24–30.
Kumar, R., Sahu, S. G., Das, A. K., Upadhyay, D., & Saroj, A. K. (2025). A case report on the homeopathic management of renal calculi with Pareira brava 3CH. International Journal of Homoeopathic Sciences, 9(4), 905–908. https://doi.org/10.33545/26164485.2025.v9.i4.N.2016
Gupta, D., & Dubey, P. K. (2020). Effect of ethanolic extracts of Tribulus terrestris, Phyllanthus niruri and combination on CaOx urolithiasis in rats. International Journal of Pharmacy & Life Sciences, 11(2), 6491.
