The use of liver slices from the Cape vulture (Gyps coprotheres) to better understand the role of liver toxicity of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in vultures

• Published in: Environmental toxicology and pharmacology Vol. 62; pp. 147 - 155
• Main Authors: Adawaren, Emmanuel Oluwasegun, Mukandiwa, Lilian, Njoya, Emmanuel Mfotie, Bekker, Lizette, Duncan, Neil, Naidoo, Vinny
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.09.2018; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Antiinflammatory agents; Birds; Cape vulture; Carcasses; Diclofenac; Inflammation; Ketoprofen; Liver; Liver slices; Meloxicam; Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; Percent clearance; Proteins; Toxicity; Asia; Meloxicam; Liver slices; Toxicity; Percent clearance; Diclofenac; Cape vulture
• ISSN: 1382-6689; 1872-7077
• DOI: 10.1016/j.etap.2018.07.001

[Display omitted] •Liver slices cultures can be established from euthanized vulture.•The vulture liver had a total lower protein content than for an animal of its size.•While ex vivo metabolism resulted, no correlation to previous in vivo studies were present.•All tested NSAIDs were toxic, including meloxicam which was likely due to the residence time.•The results show that vultures liver slice cultures are a poor predictor of NSAID susceptibility. Diclofenac, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) was responsible for the death of millions of vultures on the Asian subcontinent, following the consumption of diclofenac contaminated carcasses. The aim of this research was to establish if liver slices could serve as an alternate means of predicting the toxicity of NSAIDs in Gyps vultures. The Cape vulture liver slices was prepared and incubated with four NSAIDs for 6 h. A percent clearance of 1.0 ± 0.253, 0.58 ± 0.153, 0.961 ± 0.312 and 1.242 ± 0.406 (%/h*g) was attained for diclofenac, carprofen, ketoprofen and meloxicam respectively. Both meloxicam and diclofenac exerted toxic effects on the hepatic cells. Protein content indicated that the vulture tissue had lower enzyme levels than expected for an animal of its size. The poor distinction between the ex vivo hepatic percent clearance of meloxicam and diclofenac indicates that liver slices is not an ideal model to investigate NSAIDs toxicity in Cape vulture.