Skeletal Pathology of Eastern Grey Kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) Exposed to High Environmental Fluoride Levels in South-Eastern Australia.

Abstract

Significantly elevated bone fluoride concentrations have been reported in a population of eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) resident near a fluoride-emitting aluminum smelter in southeastern Australia. This paper describes the skeletal and synovial joint lesions observed post mortem in the same sample of kangaroos (n = 76). The prevalence and severity of skeletal lesions, specifically the formation of multiple, large, smooth exostoses over the diaphysis of long bones (especially, but not exclusively, on the tibia, fibula and metatarsi), were positively associated with bone fluoride concentration. So too were lesions of degenerative joint disease, including periarticular osteophytosis, articular cartilage erosion/ulceration, synovial hyperplasia and joint capsular fibrosis. Joint lesions were most commonly seen in the knee, hock and metatarsophalangeal joints. This is the first study to describe in detail the full range of lesions induced by chronic fluorosis in a marsupial species.

• Authors: J Hufschmid, I Beveridge, G Coulson, G Walker, P Shen, E Reynolds, J Charles
• Journal: Journal of comparative pathology (J Comp Pathol) 2015 Aug-Oct Vol. 153 Issue 2-3 Pg. 167-84 ISSN: 1532-3129 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 26186808 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Topics

• Animals
• Australia
• Bone and Bones (pathology)
• Environmental Exposure (adverse effects)
• Fluoride Poisoning (pathology, veterinary)
• Macropodidae