title: Toxicity of diclofenac to Gyps vultures.
abstract: Three endemic vulture species Gyps bengalensis, Gyps indicus and Gyps tenuirostris are critically endangered following dramatic declines in South Asia resulting from exposure to diclofenac, a veterinary drug present in the livestock carcasses that they scavenge. Diclofenac is widely used globally and could present a risk to Gyps species from other regions. In this study, we test the toxicity of diclofenac to a Eurasian (Gyps fulvus) and an African (Gyps africanus) species, neither of which is threatened. A dose of 0.8 mg kg(-1) of diclofenac was highly toxic to both species, indicating that they are at least as sensitive to diclofenac as G. bengalensis, for which we estimate an LD50 of 0.1-0.2 mg kg(-1). We suggest that diclofenac is likely to be toxic to all eight Gyps species, and that G. africanus, which is phylogenetically close to G. bengalensis, would be a suitable surrogate for the safety testing of alternative drugs to diclofenac.
authors.affiliation: University of Pretoria, Department of Paraclinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa.
authors.forename: Gerry E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Swan
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cuthbert
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Quevedo
authors.forename: Rhys E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: Deborah J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Pain
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bartels
authors.forename: Andrew A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Cunningham
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Duncan
authors.forename: Andrew A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Meharg
authors.forename: J Lindsay
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Oaks
authors.forename: Jemima
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Parry-Jones
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shultz
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Taggart
authors.forename: Gerhard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Verdoorn
authors.forename: Kerri
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wolter
mesh_terms: D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D000818:Animals; D004008:Diclofenac / Q000633:toxicity*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D053476:Extinction, Biological; D046093:Falconiformes; D007928:Lethal Dose 50; D023382:Toxicity Tests, Acute; D014527:Uric Acid / Q000097:blood; D019155:Veterinary Drugs / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D019155:Veterinary Drugs; D004008:Diclofenac; D014527:Uric Acid; D000410:Alanine Transaminase