Toxicity of diclofenac to Gyps vultures

Gerry E. Swan; Richard Cuthbert; Miguel Quevedo; Rhys E. Green; Deborah J. Pain; Paul Bartels; Andrew A. Cunningham; Neil Duncan; Andrew A. Meharg; J. Lindsay Oaks; Jemima Parry-Jones; Susanne Shultz; Mark A. Taggart; Gerhard Verdoorn; Kerri Wolter

doi:10.1098/rsbl.2005.0425

Toxicity of diclofenac to Gyps vultures

Gerry E. Swan, Richard Cuthbert, Miguel Quevedo, Rhys E. Green, Deborah J. Pain, Paul Bartels, Andrew A. Cunningham, Neil Duncan, Andrew A. Meharg, J. Lindsay Oaks, Jemima Parry-Jones, Susanne Shultz, Mark A. Taggart, Gerhard Verdoorn, Kerri Wolter

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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 0.8mg 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. © 2006 The Royal Society.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	279-282
Number of pages	3
Journal	Biology letters
Volume	2
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2005.0425
Publication status	Published - 22 Jun 2006

Keywords

Diclofenac
Gyps
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug
Toxicity
Vultures

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1098/rsbl.2005.0425

Cite this

@article{b03bcaf86f55487bbfddc134a75447b1,

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 0.8mg 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. {\textcopyright} 2006 The Royal Society.",

keywords = "Diclofenac, Gyps, Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, Toxicity, Vultures",

author = "Swan, {Gerry E.} and Richard Cuthbert and Miguel Quevedo and Green, {Rhys E.} and Pain, {Deborah J.} and Paul Bartels and Cunningham, {Andrew A.} and Neil Duncan and Meharg, {Andrew A.} and Oaks, {J. Lindsay} and Jemima Parry-Jones and Susanne Shultz and Taggart, {Mark A.} and Gerhard Verdoorn and Kerri Wolter",

year = "2006",

month = jun,

day = "22",

doi = "10.1098/rsbl.2005.0425",

language = "English",

volume = "2",

pages = "279--282",

journal = "Biology letters",

issn = "1744-9561",

publisher = "The Royal Society Publishing",

number = "2",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Toxicity of diclofenac to Gyps vultures

AU - Swan, Gerry E.

AU - Cuthbert, Richard

AU - Quevedo, Miguel

AU - Green, Rhys E.

AU - Pain, Deborah J.

AU - Bartels, Paul

AU - Cunningham, Andrew A.

AU - Duncan, Neil

AU - Meharg, Andrew A.

AU - Oaks, J. Lindsay

AU - Parry-Jones, Jemima

AU - Shultz, Susanne

AU - Taggart, Mark A.

AU - Verdoorn, Gerhard

AU - Wolter, Kerri

PY - 2006/6/22

Y1 - 2006/6/22

N2 - 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 0.8mg 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. © 2006 The Royal Society.

AB - 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 0.8mg 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. © 2006 The Royal Society.

KW - Diclofenac

KW - Gyps

KW - Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug

KW - Toxicity

KW - Vultures

U2 - 10.1098/rsbl.2005.0425

DO - 10.1098/rsbl.2005.0425

M3 - Article

C2 - 17148382

SN - 1744-9561

VL - 2

SP - 279

EP - 282

JO - Biology letters

JF - Biology letters

IS - 2

ER -

Toxicity of diclofenac to Gyps vultures

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this