Relationship between serum biochemical parameters and kidney lesions in broiler chickens with acute tubular necrosis

Abstract

To evaluate the effectiveness of biochemical factors such as blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine, and serum uric acid in identifying and diagnosing acute tubular necrosis lesion in broilers, kidney tissue and blood samples from 80 broiler chickens at the slaughter stage were collected. Tissue samples were collected in 10% formalin to detect pathological lesions. The components of BUN, creatinine, and serum uric acid were measured with commercially available kits. After preparing the histopathological sections, based on the percentage of necrosis of the kidney tubules in each tissue sample, the pathological lesions were divided into 3 degrees: mild, moderate, and severe. The results showed that 36 samples out of 80 samples (45%) had acute tubular necrosis (ATN) lesions; 14 (17.5%), 12 (15%), and 10 (12.5%) samples had severe, moderate, and mild tubular necrosis lesions, respectively. The amount of uric acid in chickens with moderate and severe lesions showed a significant difference with the chickens without lesions and the mild lesion. However, BUN and creatinine increased significantly only in severe ATN lesions. In general, the results of this study state that severe lesions of renal tubules are associated with an increase in serum BUN, creatinine, and uric acid, but in moderate lesions, only uric acid may increase. Therefore, according to the results of this study, uric acid can be considered as a diagnostic biomarker in moderate to severe ATN.