Novel Horizon of Biomarkers for Detection of Acute Kidney Injury in Animals

Abstract

Prevalence of kidney diseases is widespread in animals especially in dogs and cats. Insensitive diagnostic approach and use of nephrotoxic drugs may worsen the situation. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is associated with a sudden damage to the renal parenchyma and generally occurs due to various causes. Conventionally, serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) are used as gold standard for detection of kidney diseases, but its late existence may delay the diagnosis. Next generation of biomarkers, like proteins, enzymes and small molecules are over expressed during the tubular or glomerular injuries in urine and serum and are explored as novel biomarkers of AKI. These biomarkers are specific, non-invasive and sensitive enough to detect even the minute disturbances in the kidney. Although, these novel biomarkers outperformed over the traditional biomarkers and are well correlated with histopathological changes in kidney but they are still not widely used.