Oxidative stress and liver damage in birds exposed to diclofenac and lead

Responses of wildlife to multiple stressors fit in the ecological concept of trade-off. While toxicity of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and heavy metals for free-ranging birds has been shown in single exposures, the present study aims to evaluate oxidative stress, and liver and kidney damage caused by single and combined effects of diclofenac and lead in the Japanese quail. Forty Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) were divided into equal groups of controls, diclofenac, Pb, and Pb+diclofenac exposures. The birds were exposed to the respective chemicals through insertion of lead shots (1.5 g) into the crop on day 0 of the experiment and/or administration of 5 mg/kg of diclofenac intramuscularly in two treatments on days 0 and 5. Groups in liver and kidney tissues of birds were then compared after 10 days using histopathology and biochemistry markers such as glutathione reductase (GR), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), and lipid peroxidation measured as total thiobarbituric acid reactive species (TBARS). The liver damage score gradient was Pb+diclofenac exposure group > Pb exposure group > diclofenac exposure group and hepatic TBARS values were significantly increased in the group of birds exposed to a combination of diclofenac and lead compared to the healthy control group. The study has shown that, apart from the reported nephrotoxicity of diclofenac, hepatic toxicity should also be considered. Avian clinicians should be cautious when selecting drugs for therapy of wild birds with unknown history of exposure to toxic substances

Papillomavirus infection of roe deer in the Czech Republic and fibropapilloma-associated levels of metallothionein, zinc, and oxidative stress

The present study aimed at the aetiological diagnosis of skin tumours of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in the Czech Republic. A total of 33 roe deer specimens showing skin masses were sampled for histopathology, virus detection and identification using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and deoxyribonucleic acid sequence (DNA) analysis, and to investigate fibropapilloma-associated levels of metallothionein, zinc and oxidative stress in 2012 and 2013. Ticks (Ixodes ricinus) and deer keds (Lipoptena cervi) were also collected and pooled from sampled game specimens. Ticks found on dogs in hunting grounds under study were pooled into another sample. Skin tumours, ranging from 2 to 10 per inspected specimen and 2 to 5 cm in size, were classified as fibropapillomas by histopathology. All 33 viral-infection-suspected skin samples from roe deer in South Moravia and South Bohemia were PCR positive. The nucleotide sequences of PCR products were 100% homologous to the Western roe deer papillomavirus 1 isolate CcPV-1. Ticks and deer keds from positive roe deer and ticks from dogs were PCR and DNA sequence positive for the roe deer papillomavirus. Viral DNA was also demonstrated in one blood sample from a roe deer female. Differences in metallothionein, zinc, taurine and electrochemical index among samples from lesions and normal skin of affected roe deer and negative controls from papillomavirus-non-infected animals were non-significant. While we have demonstrated circulation of specific roe deer papillomavirus in the Czech Republic that results in multiple fibropapillomatous skin tumours, many ecological and epidemiological issues of this wildlife disease still remain unanswered