The toxicosis of some non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, piroxicam,
indomethacin, phenylbutazone, and aspirin, which occasionally are
locally used in Nigeria as rodenticides have been evaluated in rats
using changes in the serum biochemical and haematological parameters as
indices of toxicity. In the study, no clinical symptoms were observed
in all the treatment groups except in the group of animals exposed to
indomethacin which showed decreased feed intake, sluggishness,
diarrhoea and some mortality were also recorded in the group. On the
serum biochemical parameters, indomethacin and piroxicam caused
increases in the level of total bilirubin and decreases blood urea
nitrogen. Aspirin, indomethacin, and phenylbutazone produced increases
in serum aspartate aminotransferase and this increase is significant
(P<0.05) with the group treated with indomethacin compared to the
control group. Indomethacin also caused significant (P<0.05)
increase in the level of serum alanine aminotransferase. None of the
treatment groups produced significant changes in haematological
parameters except that indomethacin produced significant increase
(P<0.05) in the total white blood cell count. Histological studies
revealed that indomethacin also caused mild periportal hepatic necrosis
and kupffer cell proliferation. This study therefore shows that some
non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs may have adverse effects in rats.
Indomethacin has the greater toxic effect on rodents and this may
suggest why it is marketed in Nigeria as a rodenticide