A Comparative Patho-Physiological Study of Diclofenac and Meloxicam Induced Toxicity In Gallus Domestics

The present study was conducted to evaluate comparative toxicity of two widely used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) i.e. Diclofenac and meloxicam in Gallus domesticus. Diclofenac is claimed to be a major responsible cause of vulture population declination and considered as most devastating environmental toxicant. Today, it is replaced by meloxicam which is believed to be a safer drug than diclofenac.  The whole experiment was divided in three comparative groups consisting of seven adult healthy broilers in each group. After the completion of experiments, the animals were autopsied as per standard protocols and blood was collected directly from cardiac puncture whereas vital organs were fixed in formalin for histopathological investigations. The results of serum biochemistry, hematology and histo-pathology revealed significant alterations in comparison to vehicle control. The levels of SGOT and SGPT were significantly (𝑃 ≤ 0.001) increased by diclofenac treatment as compared to meloxicam. The levels of uric acid, creatinine, alkaline phosphatase, bilirubin, albumin, globulin and total proteins were indicated abnormalities in renal and hepatic functions in the diclofenac treated birds. Histopathology of the renal and hepatic tissues showed different degrees of degeneration like pyknosis, apoptosis and necrosis by diclofenac treatment as well as meloxicam when compared with vehicle control. Although the hematology parameters were not altered significantly. Therefore, the results of pathophysiology and biochemistry indicate that meloxicam shows less toxicity in comparison to diclofenac at same dose and duration in the experimental model Gallus domesticus.