Study of the toxic effects of long-term administration of Ipomoea carnea to goats

Author(s)

Breno Schumaher Henrique

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: São Paulo. , gráficos, ilustrações, tabelas.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Conjunto das Químicas (IQ e FCF) (CQ/DBDCQ)
• Defense date: 2002-03-08

Examining board members

Helenice de Souza Spinosa; Jose Luiz Guerra; Regina Lúcia de Moraes Moreau

• Advisor: Helenice de Souza Spinosa
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine
• Indexed in: Banco de Dados Bibliográficos da USP-DEDALUS; Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações - USP
• Location: Universidade de São Paulo. Biblioteca da Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia; FMVZ/T.3287; Universidade de São Paulo. Biblioteca do Conjunto das Químicas; CQ T/615.952; S392e

Abstract

Ipomoea carnea, a shrub plant of Convolvulaceae family, possess swainsonine, an indolizidinic alkaloid, which promotes cellular accumulation of not metabolized oligossacarides, due to inhibition of acid or lisossomal α-manosidasis enzyme, causing cellular vacuolization. The plant also has other alkaloid, the calystegein, which inhibits β-glicosidase, aggravating the effect of the swainsonine. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the possible clinical, biochemical, hematological, pathological and neurochemistry alterations in goat treated with different doses of green leaves of the Ipomoea carnea. It was used 25 goats, divided in 5 equal groups: 4 experimental and 1 control. Goats from experimental groups received, during 4 months the different doses of Ipomoea carnea: 2,5; 5,0; 10,0 and 30,0 9 of plantlkg of live weight Iday. Weekly, the animais were weighted and evaluated clinically. Before the experimental period and every other week blood samples were taken from jugular vein in order to determine the and the concentration of the glucose, cholesterol, alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and creatinina, and every month to determinate the hemogram. At the end of the experimental period, ali the goats were killed and fragments from brain, spinal cord, sciatic nerve, thyroids, myocardium, liver, kidney, spleen, lung, pancreas, intestine were collect, fixed in 10% formalin and routinely embedded in paraffin. Results showed that the animais from ali experimental groups presented nystagmus, muscular tremors, weakness of the hind limbs, incoordination of movement and ataxia. The biochemical study revealed that these animais presented significant increase in the AST, ALT and creatinine levels, when compared with goats from control group. The hematological study showed significant reduction in the levels of hemoglobin, and hematocrit in ali goats that had been treated with Ipomoea carnea. The histopathology revealed degenerative vacuolar alterations of liver, pancreas, thyroid, kidneys cells and in the neurons of the central nervous system in animais that received the plant and these alterations were more prominent in goats treated with the higher dose of I.carnea. Thus, the results presented here permit to conclude that the ingestion of Ipomoea carnea, is certainly toxic in goat production. (AU)