Urokinase alteration and its correlation with disease severity and oxidative/nitrosative stress in buffalo calves with obstructive urolithiasis.

The present study was aimed to understand the development of bovine urolithiasis through measuring oxidative/nitrosative, cortisol and urokinase status and their relationship with disease severity. The cases of buffalo calves with obstructive urolithiasis were selected based on clinical signs, ultrasonography and laboratory examination of blood and urine (creatinine, urea nitrogen). Total 35 urolithiatic buffalo calves (urolithiatic controls) and 6 healthy calves (healthy controls) were used for study. Further, calves of urolithiatic control were sub-divided into two groups based on disease severity: mild (n = 10) and severe (n = 25) form. Oxidative/nitrosative stress were evaluated based on serum malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione-S-transferase (GST), nitric oxide (NO) parameters. Serum cortisol was evaluated to measure stress hormone status. Serum and urine urokinase were measured and its relationship with disease severity and oxidative/nitrosative stress were established. Obstructive urolithiasis resulted in significant (p < .05) increase in biochemical parameters (creatinine, urea nitrogen), oxidant/antioxidant imbalance (increased MDA, and increased GST), nitrosative stress (increased nitric oxide), upregulated stress hormone (cortisol) in serum and elevated urokinase in serum and urine (p < .05) as compared to healthy controls. In non-parametric Kendall rank correlation (p < .01), a positive correlation was established between urokinase level and disease severity (urolithiasis). It is concluded that in bovine obstructive urolithiasis, increased oxidative/nitrosative stress, cortisol and urokinase play a significant role. The urokinase can help to understand pathophysiology of bovine urolithiasis because of having positive correlation with disease severity (urolithiasis) and stress markers.