Background:Holy cow(Bos indicus)urine is often considered a valuable therapeutic agent in India for treatment of many illnesses including infectious diseases.This study was conducted to assess the presence of potentia...Background:Holy cow(Bos indicus)urine is often considered a valuable therapeutic agent in India for treatment of many illnesses including infectious diseases.This study was conducted to assess the presence of potentially pathogenic bacteria and to determine antibacterial activity of cow urine vis a vis human and buffalo urine using standard bacteriological methods.Method:The study on 73 urine samples(Murra buffalo,Bubalus bubalis 13;Sahiwal cattle,Bos indicus 11;Tharparkar cattle,Bos indicus 18;Vrindavani cattle,a cross bred strain of Bos indicus and Bos taurus 12,and 19 humans),were collected aseptically and bacteriological analysis was done using standard clinical bacteriological methods.To determine antibacterial activity of filter-sterilized urine agar well diffusion and microplate broth dilution methods,against a battery of 18 strains,were used.Results:Revealed presence of at least 14 types of potentially harmful bacteria in fresh urine samples,Escherichia coli,was the most common detected in 13 samples followed by Hafnia alvei(11),Staphylococcus epidermidis(8),Bacillus mycoides(7),Proteus mirabilis(5),Enterococcus faecium(4),Acinetobacter calcoaceticus(3),Enterococcus faecalis(3),Paenibacillus pantothenticus(3),Salmonella enterica ssp.enterica Ser Enteritidis(3),Klebsiella pneumoniae ssp.pneumoniae(2),Pantoea agglomerans(2),Erwinia rhapontici(1),and Providencia rettgeri(1).The analysis for antimicrobial activity of filter-sterilized urine samples(73)against 18 test strains revealed that none of the urine could inhibit bacterial growth in agar well diffusion assay and 45 samples failed to inhibit any of the 18 bacteria with broth dilution assay.Those 28 urine samples which inhibited growth of one or more test bacteria were not bactericidal.For most of the test strains,there was no significant(P>0.05)difference in antibacterial potential of different urines irrespective of species,breed and sex of urine donors.However,S.epidermidis was inhibited by significantly(P<0.05)more human male urine samples than human female urine samples.Buffalo urine samples were more often inhibitory to A.xyloxidans than urine of human and all three types of cattle(P<0.05).Similarly,urine of buffaloes was significantly(P<0.05)more effective on E.rhapaontici and S.epidermidis than urine from humans,Tharparkar and Vrindavani cattle.There was no significant(P>0.05)difference in antibacterial activity of urines of three different breeds of cattle(Sahiwal,Tharparkar and Vrindavani).Conclusion:The study concluded that a sizeable proportion of urine samples from apparently healthy individuals carry potentially pathogenic bacteria.The urine of some individuals irrespective of sex and breed or species might be inhibitory to a select group of bacteria but the belief,that holy cow urine is antibacterial,can’t be generalized.In no case,fresh urine can be recommended for human consumption.展开更多
文摘Background:Holy cow(Bos indicus)urine is often considered a valuable therapeutic agent in India for treatment of many illnesses including infectious diseases.This study was conducted to assess the presence of potentially pathogenic bacteria and to determine antibacterial activity of cow urine vis a vis human and buffalo urine using standard bacteriological methods.Method:The study on 73 urine samples(Murra buffalo,Bubalus bubalis 13;Sahiwal cattle,Bos indicus 11;Tharparkar cattle,Bos indicus 18;Vrindavani cattle,a cross bred strain of Bos indicus and Bos taurus 12,and 19 humans),were collected aseptically and bacteriological analysis was done using standard clinical bacteriological methods.To determine antibacterial activity of filter-sterilized urine agar well diffusion and microplate broth dilution methods,against a battery of 18 strains,were used.Results:Revealed presence of at least 14 types of potentially harmful bacteria in fresh urine samples,Escherichia coli,was the most common detected in 13 samples followed by Hafnia alvei(11),Staphylococcus epidermidis(8),Bacillus mycoides(7),Proteus mirabilis(5),Enterococcus faecium(4),Acinetobacter calcoaceticus(3),Enterococcus faecalis(3),Paenibacillus pantothenticus(3),Salmonella enterica ssp.enterica Ser Enteritidis(3),Klebsiella pneumoniae ssp.pneumoniae(2),Pantoea agglomerans(2),Erwinia rhapontici(1),and Providencia rettgeri(1).The analysis for antimicrobial activity of filter-sterilized urine samples(73)against 18 test strains revealed that none of the urine could inhibit bacterial growth in agar well diffusion assay and 45 samples failed to inhibit any of the 18 bacteria with broth dilution assay.Those 28 urine samples which inhibited growth of one or more test bacteria were not bactericidal.For most of the test strains,there was no significant(P>0.05)difference in antibacterial potential of different urines irrespective of species,breed and sex of urine donors.However,S.epidermidis was inhibited by significantly(P<0.05)more human male urine samples than human female urine samples.Buffalo urine samples were more often inhibitory to A.xyloxidans than urine of human and all three types of cattle(P<0.05).Similarly,urine of buffaloes was significantly(P<0.05)more effective on E.rhapaontici and S.epidermidis than urine from humans,Tharparkar and Vrindavani cattle.There was no significant(P>0.05)difference in antibacterial activity of urines of three different breeds of cattle(Sahiwal,Tharparkar and Vrindavani).Conclusion:The study concluded that a sizeable proportion of urine samples from apparently healthy individuals carry potentially pathogenic bacteria.The urine of some individuals irrespective of sex and breed or species might be inhibitory to a select group of bacteria but the belief,that holy cow urine is antibacterial,can’t be generalized.In no case,fresh urine can be recommended for human consumption.
