Urolithiasis is a common urinary tract disorder affecting a large proportion of the global population and is characterized by a high rate of recurrence. The development of kidney stones is associated with several factors, including dietary habits, metabolic abnormalities, oxidative stress and urinary tract infections. Although surgical and pharmacological interventions are widely used for stone management, their long-term application is often limited by adverse effects, high treatment cost and the risk of stone reformation. In recent years, natural product-based polyherbal formulations have gained considerable attention as potential therapeutic alternatives due to their safety, affordability and multi-target pharmacological actions. These formulations combine different medicinal plants to produce synergistic effects that may inhibit crystal formation, enhance urine flow and provide renal protection. The present review summarizes current research on the preparation, phytochemical characterization and biological evaluation of polyherbal formulations with reported anti-urolithiatic activity. Experimental approaches used to assess crystal inhibition, antioxidant potential and diuretic effects are also discussed. In addition, challenges related to standardization, safety assessment and clinical validation of herbal combinations are highlighted. Overall, polyherbal formulations derived from natural products may offer promising opportunities for the development of effective and economical therapeutic strategies for the prevention and management of urolithiasis.

The increasing burdens of the world with inflammatory diseases and chronic pains have enhanced the need to have safer, multi-targeted and more effective therapeutic approaches. Polyherbal preparations with their deep-rooted involvement in the traditional systems of medicine are beginning to be viewed as innovative solutions because of their synergetic interactions and holistic action mechanisms. In comparison to the traditional pharmacotherapies, like non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and opioids, which have many side effects, tolerance, and long-term toxicity, polyherbal combinations present a better effect with higher quality and fewer adverse effects and patient adherence. This review is concerned with giving a comprehensive focus on the standardization, phytochemical profiling, and pharmacological validation of polyherbal formulations that have been designed towards the use of anti-inflammatory and analgesic purposes. Phytochemical studies are detailed describing a wide range of bioactive secondary metabolites; flavonoids, alkaloids, phenolic compounds, terpenoids, saponins, among others, that all play a role in their therapeutic efficacy. The quality assessment, fingerprinting, and reproducibility of these complex herbal matrices have been transformed by the use of advanced analytical tools namely HPTLC, HPLC and GC-MS. Pharmacological analyses using in vitro and in vivo models indicate high modulation of inflammatory pathways, blockage of pro-inflammatory products, control of cytokines, and inhibition of oxidative stress pathways. Moreover, such formulations possess the ability to act on a variety of signaling pathways in isolation or in combinations, increasing the therapeutic outcome. Nevertheless, such issues as absence of global standardization procedures, variability of phytochemicals, and the absence of clinical approval are still considerable. The way forward focuses on merging the technology of omics with systems biology and on sound clinical trials to support scientific validity, and provide the conversion of the polyherbal preparations into conventionalized, evidence-based medicine to the contemporary healthcare framework.

Ten novel 1,3,4-oxadiazole analogs (A-J) were prepared and tested in terms of their antibacterial and antioxidant properties. The obtained compounds were identified by the determination of melting points, thin-layer chromatography, and the confirmation of molecular formulas, whereas the identification of representative compounds proceeded by adding the UV- Visible spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H- and ¹C-NMR) methods. The spectral analyses proved the successful construction of the oxadiazole nucleus and the existence of the typical functional groups. The synthesized derivatives were evaluated with respect to the Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae) and Gram-positive bacterium (Staphylococcus aureus and Micrococcus luteus) regarding their antibacterial activity based on the agar diffusion test with 100 µg/mL, 500 µg/mL, and 1000 µg/mL concentrations of the derivatives. In a concentration-dependent fashion, several compounds showed a significant level of antibacterial activity. Out of them, methyl-substituted (B) and chloro-substituted (D) counterparts exhibited similar inhibition zones as the standard drug ciprofloxacin. The DPPH free radical scavenging assay was used to determine the antioxidant activity. These findings revealed moderate-strong antioxidant potential of most compounds, with some halogenated derivatives having lower IC50 values compared to ascorbic acid. Possible structure-activity relationship analysis showed that electron-withdrawing and electron-donating substituents have a significant impact on biological activity. All in all, the results demonstrate substituted 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives as promising candidates in the further development as antimicrobial and antioxidant agents.