Diclofenac sodium is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug commonly used worldwide for the treatment of inflammation and pain due to arthritis or other ailments in man and animals. Despite these benefits, there are concerns that this drug may have adverse effect on animal's liver and kidneys. This work was designed to determine the effect of diclofenac sodium on blood components using haematological tests, as well as determine the hepatotoxic and nephrotoxic effects using biochemical assays. Twenty rats were randomly divided into four groups with 5 rats per group. The groups 2, 3, and 4 were assigned rats, intramuscularly administered diclofenac sodium at the doses of 49.05, 98.10 and 147.15 mg/kg body weight respectively, once a day for seven days while group 1 rats were given distilled water only, and served as control. The blood collected was tested by haemoanalyzer while the serum was assayed by biochemistry analyzer. The various doses of diclofenac sodium produced significant (p<0.05) decrease in the values of haemoglobin concentration, packed cell volume, red blood cells and white blood cells while there was significant (p<0.05) increase in the levels of serum alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, total bilirubin, urea, creatinine, total cholesterol, triglycerides and electrolytes. However, there was significant (p<0.05) decrease in the levels of serum total protein, albumin, glucose and HDLcholesterol. The results therefore showed that diclofenac sodium may have deleterious effect on animal tissues, resulting in hepatic and renal impairments at the given doses and treatment duration. So caution needs to be exercised in its administration, which should be limited to the lowest therapeutic doses, to prevent its harmful effect.

Piroxicam is a benzothiazine compound with anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, and analgesic properties. Because of the very high efficacy of piroxicam and its increasing use in the treatment of carcinomas in dogs and cats, there is a need for acute toxicity study of piroxicam in monogastric animals and its potential for causing secondary poisoning in puppies. Piroxicam manufactured by Shanxi Federal Pharmaceutical Co, Ltd. was used for this study. Revised up-and-down procedure was used for the estimation of median lethal dose in mouse (259.4 ± 51.9 mg/kg), rat (259.4 ± 69.6 mg/kg), rabbit (707.5 ± 130.8 mg/kg), cat (437.5 ± 128.1 mg/kg), guinea pig (218.7 ± 64.1 mg/kg), monkey (733.3 ± 83.3 mg/kg), broiler (285.3 ± 62.5 mg/kg), hen (638.3 ± 115.4 mg/kg), turkey (707.5 ± 130.8 mg/kg), pigeon (375 ± 55.9 mg/kg), and duck (311.3 ± 46.6 mg/kg). The acute toxicity signs of piroxicam at doses 207.5 mg/kg and above observed in the animals are torticollis, opisthotonos, somnolence, lethargy, diarrhea, gastroenteritis, generalized internal bleeding, anemia, congestion of the lung and liver, flaccid paralysis, cheesy lung, urinary incontinence, engorged urinary bladder, convulsive jerking of the limbs, lying in ventral recumbency, gasping for air, roaring, and death. Three out of six puppies died after being fed the carcasses of poisoned turkey, duck, and hen administered piroxicam at doses of 1000, 415, and 1000 mg/kg, respectively. White flaky cheesy materials observed in turkeys were also observed in the gastrointestinal content of the puppies. Paleness of carcasses, watery crop content, dryness of pericardium, gastroenteritis, intestinal perforation, and whitish pericardium were observed in broilers. There were effusions in thoracic and abdominal cavities as seen in all other carcasses poisoned primarily by piroxicam. Administration of atropine (0.02 mg/kg) led to survival of the remaining puppies. In conclusion, piroxicam is very to moderately toxic in monogastric animals.