Livestock poisoning

Effects of Sesquiterpene Lactones on Seed Germination. Sesquiterpene lactones are common constituents of the Asteraceae but are also found in other angiosperm families and in certain liverworts (31,32). These highly bitter substances exhibit a wide spectrum of biological activities (J 3) which include cytotoxicity, anti-tumor, anti-microbial, insecticidal (34) and molluscicidal (35) properties. Furthermore, they are known causes for livestock poisoning and contact dermatitis in humans (33). Structure-activity relationship studies on sesquiterpene lactones have demonstrated that biological activity frequently depend on the presence of the cr... 

Additional spin-olf benefits from research on poisonous plants include the development of animal models for the study of human diseases, new techniques and technologies for diagnosis and treatment of livestock poisoning, development of antibody-based diagnostic tools (ELISAs), novel treatments (chemotherapeutic agents), the discovery of new bioactive compounds, and improved livestock management strategies to enhance animal and human health. 

Habermehl, G.G., Martz, W., Tokarnia, C.H., Dobereiner, J. and Mendez, M.C. (1988). Livestock poisoning in South America by species of the Senecio plant, Toxicon, 26, 275-286. 

Nielsen, D.B. and James, L.F. (1992). The economic impacts of livestock poisonings by plants, in James, L.F., Keeler, R.F., Bailey Jr., E.M, Cheeke, P.R. and Hegarty, M.P., Eds, The ecology and economic impact of poisonous plants on livestock production, Iowa State University Press, Ames, pp. 3-10. 

Roitman, J.N. and Banter, K.E. 1995. Livestock poisoning caused by plant alkaloids, in Blum, M.S., Ed., The toxic action of marine and terrestrial alkaloids. Alaken Inc., Fort Collins, pp. 53-124. 

Although this family is pantropical, most of its members are South American. A few genera extend into temperate regions one of these is Lhc familiar milkweed, Asclepias syriaca. Some are ornamentals, some yield rubber, others are livestock poisons. The taxonomy of the family is not a matter of general agreement. 

Many pyrrolizidine alkaloids are known to produce pronounced hepatic toxicity and there are many recorded cases of livestock poisoning. Potentially toxic structures have 1,2-unsaturation in the pyrrolizidine ring and an ester function on the side-chain. Although themselves non-toxic, these alkaloids are transformed by mammalian liver... 

The polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) analogs of PCBs were the cause of massive livestock poisoning in Michigan in 1973 because of the addition of PBB flame retardant to livestock feed during its formulation. 

Whilst gas chromatography has been used for the analysis of many of the lycoctonine-based alkaloids [52], the larger, less volatile, and more thermally labile MSAL compounds require analytical procedures such as TLC and HPLC for separation and detection. For example, both normal phase liquid chromatography [53] and reversed phase liquid chromatography [54] with UV detection have been used for separation, detection, and quantitation of alkaloids from Delphinium species associated with livestock poisonings in the western US and Canada. The introduction of API techniques has allowed the analysis of all types of diterpene alkaloids by direct MS methods and with MS methods coupled to liquid chromatography. 

As might be expected for a group of compounds that affect carbohydrate metabolism, the polyhydroxylated alkaloids have been reported to have a wide range of effects on a number of organisms and some cause serious livestock poisonings. In fact, it was the toxicity to livestock of the legumes Swainsona canescens and Castanospermum australe in Australia that first led to the isolation of the toxic principles swainsonine and castanospermine. ... 

Scientific investigations on the poisonous constituents of the yew date from the early 19th century. The needles were mentioned in several pharmacopoeias as a foxglove substitute, but the yew was better known as a livestock poison. The first chemical investigation of the yew tree seems to have been carried out by Piero Peretti, a professor at Rome University, in 1828... 

James, LF Agricultural Research Service Livestock poisoning from Astragalus and Oxytropis species CRIS/UDSA 2001... 

It may be noted, furthermore, that the several books on poisonous plants that have been examined did not have Larrea, that is. Chaparral, greasewood, or creosote bush listed. For instance, John M. Kingsbury s comprehensive Poisonous Plants of the United States and Canada does not mention Larrea, as such, or any of its other names. Admittedly, some of these books are aimed more at livestock poisoning than at human poisoning. 

W. Herz in R.F. Keeler, K.R. van Kampen and L.F. James (Eds), Effects of Poisonous Plants on Livestock Sesquiterpene lactones from livestock poisons. Academic Press, New York, San Francisco, London, 1978. 

Muramatsu and co-workers,in studies associated with livestock poisonings, examined the alkaloids of the leaves and roots of A. chinense collected at various growth stages. They reported on the levels of mesaconine (95), aconitine (21), benzoylmesaconine, and benzoylaconine (96). The highest levels of alkaloids in the roots occurred during September. For the leaves, the highest levels occurred in May and October. 

Serious livestock poisoning episodes are mentioned in literature from the effects of the pyrrolizidine alkaloid of the Senecio genus, especially Senecio riddellii, Senecio douglasii, and Senecio jacobaea The toxicity of... 

Jarvis BB, Wang S, Cox C, Rao MM, Philip V, Varashin MS, Barros CS (1996) Brazilian Baccharis Toxins Livestock Poisoning and the Isolation of Macrocyclic Trichothecene Glucosides. Nat Toxins 4 58... 

Busam L, Habermehl GG (1982) Accumulation of Mycotoxins by Baccharis coridifolia A Reason for Livestock Poisoning. Naturwiss 69 392... 

Habermehl GG, Busam L, Heydel P, Mebs D, Tokamia CH, Dobereiner J, S nxml M (1985) Macrocyclic Trichothecenes Cause of Livestock Poisoning by the Brazilian Plant Baccharis coridifolia. Toxicon 23 731... 

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