Effect of Cystone® on urinary composition and stone formation over a one year period

Kidney stones are a common problem for which inadequate prevention exists. We recruited ten recurrent kidney stone formers with documented calcium oxalate stones into a two phased study to assess safety and effectiveness of Cystone (R), an herbal treatment for prevention of kidney stones. The first phase was a randomized double-blinded 12 week cross over study assessing the effect of Cystone (R) vs. placebo on urinary supersaturation. The second phase was an open label one year study of Cystone (R) to determine if renal stone burden decreased, as assessed by quantitative and subjective assessment of Cl. Results revealed no statistically significant effect of Cystone (R) on urinary composition short (6 weeks) or long (52 weeks) term. Average renal stone burden increased rather than decreased on Cystone (R). Therefore, this study does not support the efficacy of Cystone (R) to treat calcium oxalate stone formers. Future studies will be needed to assess effects on stone passage, or on other stone types. (C) 2011 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.