In the urinary system, urolithiasis is the third prevalent disorder which causes severe pain in individuals. Urinary stones are composed of calcium oxalate (CaOx) and calcium phosphate in approximately 80% of patients. Although various drugs and surgery operations are used to treat the disease, side effects of drugs and the high recurrence after therapy in patients cannot be ignored. Flavonoids are a large group of plant polyphenols with presumed beneficial effects on several common diseases. Whereas, a very few have reached clinical use. The results of recent studies have shown that the plant flavonoids could effectively inhibit the formation of CaOx stones in vitro and in vivo, correlating with their diuretic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial properties and other protective effects. Thus, the flavonoids or flavonoid-rich plant extracts endowed with anti-urolithiasis activities and probable mechanisms of actions were reviewed. In addition, we also put forward some issues needed to be concerned in future investigations as well as offered prospects and challenges for developing the plant flavonoids into drugs for stone prevention.

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类黄酮和富含类黄酮的植物提取物对尿石症的保护作用：综述

在泌尿系统中，尿石症是第三种普遍引起的疾病，其引起个人严重疼痛。在大约80％的患者中，尿结石由草酸钙（CaOx）和磷酸钙组成。尽管使用各种药物和外科手术来治疗该疾病，但是药物的副作用和患者治疗后的高复发率不容忽视。类黄酮是一大类植物多酚，对几种常见疾病均具有有益作用。然而，极少数已经达到临床用途。最近的研究结果表明，植物类黄酮在体外和体内均可有效抑制CaOx结石的形成，并与它们的利尿，抗氧化，抗炎，抗菌性能和其他保护作用有关。因此，对具有抗尿石症活性的黄酮类或富含类黄酮的植物提取物及其可能的作用机理进行了综述。此外，我们还提出了一些需要进一步研究的问题，并提出了将植物类黄酮开发成预防结石药物的前景和挑战。