Handjesgras - Cynodon dactylon
Een onopvallend gras is Handjesgras of Cynodon dactylon, onopvallend, totdat je de plant en vooral de halmen wat beter bekijkt. De plant valt op door de dichte mat van scheuten en korte bladeren. De halmen vallen op doordat ze afwijken van de meeste West-Europese grassen, we zien een stervormig vertakte bloeiwijze die wel wat doet denken aan de vingers van een hand. Iedere deelbloeiwijze bestaat weer uit een groot aantal vrij kleine eenbloemige aartjes, deze staan in twee rijen, maar wel vrijwel naar één zijde gericht. De stengel draagt een beperkt aantal bladeren en in plaats van een tongetje vinden we een rij haren. Dit gras heeft zowel bovengrondse uitlopers, stolonen, als ondergrondse uitlopers, wortelstokken die we ook rhizomen noemen. Met deze twee manieren van uitbreiden kan al gauw een heel gebied gekoloniseerd worden. Vooral langs rivierstrandjes, op zandige plekken in de uiterwaard en in de duingebieden .
Cynodon dactylon decoction in male Wistar rats. Alireza Golshan 1, Parichehr Hayatdavoudi 2, Mousa Al-Reza Hadjzadeh 2, Abolfazl Khajavi Rad 3, Nema Mohamadian Roshan 4, Abbasali Abbasnezhad 5, Seyed Mojtaba Mousavi 6, Roghayeh Pakdel 6, Batool Zarei 6, Azita Aghaee 7
Objectives: The antioxidant capacity impairs in kidney and urinary bladder of animals with stone disease. Herbal medicine can improve the antioxidant condition of renal tissue. Cynodon dactylon (C. dactylon) is a medicinal plant with antioxidative and diuretic properties and different preparations of this plant have shown promising effects in stone disease. Assessment of the whole plant decoction to prevent kidney stone disease as well as its antioxidant effects was the aim of this paper.
Materials and methods: Fifty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 5 experimental groups (n=10). One group was left without treatment and four groups received ethylene glycol (1% v/v) in drinking water for 6 weeks. Three doses of Cynodon dactylon aqueous decoction (12.5, 50 and 200 mg/kg BW) were added to the drinking water of groups 3-5. Finally, water intake, 24-hour urine volume, MDA, total thiol concentration and FRAP value were measured in the serum and kidney tissues. The CaOx depositions were evaluated by hematoxylin and eosin staining.
Results: Compared to the ethylene glycol-treated group, 200 mg/kg C. dactylon, lowered stone incidents, decreased urine volume, increased FRAP/g Cr (43%) and thiol content (p<0.05) with no significant alteration of water intake, MDA decreased significantly compared to C. dactylon 12.5 (p<0.01). Kidney weight increased and body weight decreased in ethylene glycol-treated group compared to the control group (p<0.05).
Conclusion: A minimum dose of 200 mg/kg C. dactylon reduced stone formation and simultaneously increased total antioxidant power of serum and preserved MDA content and water.
Urol Res 2009 Apr;37(2):75-82. Cynodon dactylon extract as a preventive and curative agent in experimentally induced nephrolithiasis. F Atmani 1, C Sadki, M Aziz, M Mimouni, B Hacht
Cynodon dactylon (Poaceae family) decoction was used in the treatment of kidney stones. However, no scientific study was undertaken so far to demonstrate the beneficial effect of the plant. Thus, the aim of the current study is to evaluate the effect of Cynodon aqueous extract as a preventive and curative agent in experimentally induced nephrolithiasis in a rat model. Ethylene glycol (EG) was used in the experiment to induce calcium oxalate (CaOx) deposition into kidneys. In preventive protocol, Cynodon decoction was administered in the same day with EG to evaluate the ability of the extract to prevent crystal deposition. However, in curative protocol, rats were first rendered nephrolithiasic and then the extract was administered to assess the ability of the plant to eliminate the pre-existing crystal deposition. In both protocols, urinary biochemical and other variables were measured during the course of the study. Crystalluria and renal histology were examined as well. The results showed that, in both protocols, all measured variables were similar for both the rat groups. Nevertheless, urinary biochemical analysis was apparently unaffected by the extract except oxalate in preventive protocol, and calcium, sodium, and potassium in curative protocol which were significantly highly excreted in treated rats compared to untreated animals. Crystalluria was characterized mostly by the presence of large quantities of CaOx monohydrate and CaOx dihydrate particles in untreated rats. However, crystalluria was mainly dominated by the presence of CaOx dihydrate particles with reduced size. The most apparent beneficial effect of Cynodon extract was seen in kidney tissues where reduced levels of CaOx deposition have been noticed especially in medullary and papillary sections from treated rats. We concluded that C. dactylon extract has beneficial effect in preventing and eliminating CaOx deposition into kidneys. Such findings provide a scientific explanation for its use in the treatment of kidneys stones.
Phytochemical analysis of hydroalcoholic extract from C. dactylon rhizomes has demonstrated that the rhizomes contain sugars, flavonoids, sterols, and steroidal saponins.(21,22) Plant flavonoids are antioxidant and scavenge oxygen free radicals. It has been reported that the methanolic extract of C. dactylon had an antioxidant effect on COLO 320 DM cells, a colon cancer cell line, and increased the levels of antioxidant enzymes.
It has been also reported that the treatment of experimental animals with methanolic extract of C. dactylondecreased the level of lipid peroxides. (23) Therefore, it seems that the effect of C. dactylon on prevention and disruption of the kidney stones may be, at least, in part due to its antioxidant effects. Cynodon dactylon steroid saponins also have some biological and pharmacological activities, including diuretic, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and hypocholesteremic characteristics.(24) Therefore, it can be speculated that the role of C. dactylon on CaOx calculi formation and disruption, as is seen in the present study, is in part due to antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of C. dactylon compounds. These compounds may interfere with the process of epithelial cell damage induced by crystals or may exert inhibitory effect on inflammation. It has also been reported that some kidney stones, such as struvite calculi, may have a bacterial origin like nanobacteria.(25)
As C. dactylon has antibacterial effects,(9) this mechanism may also contribute to its curative and preventive actions on CaOx calculus formation in the kidney.It has been suggested that the extract contains substances that coat the crystals, thereby blocking their adhesion to the cell surface.(19) Hereby, C. dactylon fractions may also protect renal epithelial cells at least in part by reducing cell damage via preventing crystal adhesion to the renal tubular cells. Indeed, it has been shown in human studies that water consumption is an important factor at least with regard to the rate of recurrence in the kidney calculi formers.(26) However, the current investigation was not able to demonstrate a significant difference regarding water intake among various groups of rats. This finding was also in agreement with previous examination that has studied the effect of C. dactylon aqueous extract on CaOx calculi in the rat kidney.(19)CONCLUSIONOverall, the current study data indicated that administration of C. dactylon N-butanol fraction, N-butanol phase remnant, and ethyl acetate fraction, at 12.8 mg/kg, showed beneficial effects on prevention and elimination of CaOx calculi in the rat kidney. Further studies are necessary to identify C. dactylon extract active components as well as their mechanisms involved in the treatment of kidney stones.
References
20. Khan SR, Thamilselvan S. Nephrolithiasis: a consequence of renal epithelial cell exposure to oxalate and calcium oxalate crystals. Mol Urol. 2000;4:305-12.
21. Garjani A, Afrooziyan A, Nazemiyeh H, Najafi M, Kharazmkia A, Maleki-Dizaji N. Protective effects of hydroalcoholic extract from rhizomes of Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. on compensated right heart failure in rats. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2009;9:28.
22. Fazly Bazzaz BS, Haririzadeh G, Imami SA, Rashed MH. Survey of Iranian plants for alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, and tannins [Khorasan Province]. Pharm Biol. 1997;35:17-30.
23. Albert-Baskar A, Ignacimuthu S. Chemopreventive effect of Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. extract against DMH-induced colon carcinogenesis in experimental animals. Exp Toxicol Pathol. 2010;62:423-31.
24. Francis G, Kerem Z, Makkar HP, Becker K. The biological action of saponins in animal systems: a review. Br J Nutr. 2002;88:587-605.
25. Kramer G, Klingler HC, Steiner GE. Role of bacteria in the development of kidney stones. Curr Opin Urol. 2000;10:35-8.
26. Borghi L, Meschi T, Amato F, Briganti A, Novarini A, Giannini A. Urinary volume, water and recurrences in idiopathic calcium nephrolithiasis: a 5-year randomized prospective study. J Urol. 1996;155: 839-43.