Antilithiasic and antioxidant activities of propolis and bee pollen extracts: In vitro and in silico studies

Urolithiasis is a wide-spread condition with no efficient pharmacological treatments. It causes the formation of renal stones. The article describes the antioxidant and anti-lithiasis potencies of extracts of Algerian propolis and bee pollen. Their inhibiting effect on calcium oxalate crystallization was assessed against citric acid using UV-Visible spectrophotometry at 620 nm. The effect of rutin and liquiritin on xanthine dehydrogenase was analyzed in silico. The highest levels (p ˂ 0.05) of total phenols (129.28 ± 1.51 mg GAE/g) and flavonoids (77.58 ± 1.95 mg QEQ/g) belonged to the bee pollen ethanolic extract. The same extract had the strongest (p < 0.05) DPPH scavenging capacity (9.420 ± 0.002 μg/mL). The ethanolic extract of propolis possessed the highest antioxidant potency (63.05 ± 3.49%) according to the β-carotene assay. Crystal nucleation in the presence of 16 mg/mL extracts was the same as in the samples tested with citric acid. The propolis ethanolic extract (82.83 ± 0.83%) demonstrated the maximal inhibition of crystal growth at 16 mg/mL, compared with citric acid (91.90 ± 0.26%). Based on the binding free energy (ΔG) and root mean square deviation, the ligands were efficient inhibitors of xanthine dehydrogenase. Bee pollen and propolis proved to contain bioactive components that can make them an alternative to traditional methods of urolithiasis prevention and treatment.