INDUCTION OF BLADDER CALCULI BY ZINC DISC IMPLANTATION METHOD IN EXPERIMENTAL RATS – A PILOT STUDY

Urolithiasis is a relevant clinical problem in every day practice with a subsequent burden for the health system. Animal models of disease most closely replicate the sum of physiological conditions present in humans. Rats and mice are however, the two most commonly used experimental animals in medical research including stone disease. The oxalate metabolism in the rat is nearly identical to that in humans in many aspects. The experimental calcium oxalate Urolithiasis in the rat is similar to calcium oxalate stone disease in man. There are many methods of inducing calculi in rats. Among them Chemical method of inducing hyperoxaluria with Ethylene glycol and foreign body implantation especially zinc discs in urinary bladder of rats are the commonly used experiments. This paper will describe in detail about the Zinc disc implantation method to induce calculi in Wistar rats based on a pilot study. Focus is given to the specifications of zinc disc size, duration of calculi formation and X- ray radiography so that it will be very useful for future researchers. This study ensures that a zinc disc of weight of 10 mg is good enough for stone formation with minimal stress to rats. Also X- ray proved to be very effective tool to study the proper implantation and also the growth of the crystal and hence the experimental period can be determined.