Effects of Acanthospermum hispidum on goats

Comparative Analysis of the Essential Oils from two Asteraceous Plants Found in Nigeria, Acanthospermum Hispidum and Tithonia Diversifolia

The essential oils from two members of the Asteraceae ( Acanthospermum hispidum DC. aerial parts, and leaves of Tithonia diversifolia (Hemsley) A. Gray), growing wild in Osun State, Nigeria, have been characterised by combined gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analyses. Twenty-nine components have been fully identified and grouped into monoterpene hydrocarbons (22.2%), oxygenated monoterpenes (4.6%), sesquiterpenes hydrocarbons (58.2%) and oxygenated sesquiterpenes (10.8%) in A. hispidum. The main constituents of the oil were β-caryophyllene (28.0%), α-pinene (15.9%) and bicyclogermacrene (11.0%) among the hydrocarbon compounds, and bisabolol (8.9%) and carvacrol methyl ether (4.1%) among the oxygenated components. Tithonia diversifolia essential oil comprised seventeen components and was characterised by a predominant content of monoterpene hydrocarbons (87.9%), cis-β-ocimene (43.7%), α-pinene (28.6%) and limonene (12.0%) being the main compounds. Sesquiterpenes represented ca. 10% oil, as sum of hydrocarbons and oxygenated components. A new chemotype is established for T. diversifolia, while the Nigerian A. hispidum is being reported for the first time as a new source of essential oil with some distinction in composition from those of other sources.

Preliminary observations on experimental Ruta graveolens toxicosis in Nubian goats

We present the first reported study of Ruta graveolens toxicity in 7-8-month-old Nubian goats. Oral administration of 5 g/kg bw per day of R. graveolens leaves caused tremor, dyspnoea, frequent urination, incoordination of movement, ataxia and recumbency, with death after 1-7 days. In goats receiving oral doses of 1 g/kg bw per day of the leaves, the course of toxicity was prolonged and the animals had pallor of the visible mucous membranes and loss in condition; one died on day 17, the others being slaughtered on days 41 and 46. The clinical effects were correlated with pathological changes in various organs, alterations in serum aspartate transaminase, creatine kinase, total protein, cholesterol, urea and other serum constituents, haematological values and the concentrations in the tissues of copper, iron, zinc, manganese, calcium and phosphorus.

Response of Najdi sheep to oral administration of Citrullus colocynthis fruits, Nerium oleander leaves or their mixture

Susceptibility of sheep to oral administration of Citrullus colocynthis fruits, Nerium oleander leaves or their mixture is described in 12 sheep assigned as untreated controls, C. colocynthis-treated at 0.25g/kg/day, N. oleander-treated at 0.25g/kg and plant mixture-treated at 0.25g of C. colocynthis/kg plus 0.25g of N. oleander/kg. The daily use of 0.25g of C. colocynthis/kg for 42 days was not fatal to sheep and caused slight diarrhoea, catarrhal enteritis, centrilobular hepatocellular fatty change and degeneration of the renal tubular cells. Single oral doses of 0.25g of N. oleander/kg were lethal to sheep within 18-24h and caused uneasiness, grinding of the teeth, dyspnoea, anorexia, frequent urination, ruminal bloat, ataxia and recumbency before death. The main lesions were widespread congestion and haemorrhage, pulmonary cyanosis and emphysema and severe hepatonephropathy. Rapid death was also observed in sheep receiving single doses of the mixture of the two plants. Effects were correlated with changes in the activities of serum lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) and aspartate transaminase (AST) and concentrations of cholesterol, bilirubin, total protein, albumin, globulin and urea and haematological parameters.

Effect of combined Citrullus colocynthis and Rhazya stricta use in Najdi sheep

The effect of oral administration of 0.25 g/kg/day of Citrullus colocynthis fruits, 0.25 g/kg/day of Rhazya stricta leaves or mixture of the two plants at 0.25 g/kg/day of C. colocynthis fruits plus 0.25 g/kg/day of R. stricta leaves in Najdi sheep was examined. Oral administration of 0.25 g/kg/day of C. colocynthis fruits or 0.25 g/kg/day of R. stricta leaves for 42 days proved not fatal but that of the mixture of the two plants (0.25 g + 0.25 g/kg/day) proved fatal within 26 days with profuse diarrhea, dehydration, loss in condition, ataxia and recumbency, prior to death. These manifestations accompanied by enterohepatonephrotoxicity, gelatinization of the renal and epicardial fat and transudate in serous cavities were correlated with alterations in serum LDH and AST activities and concentrations of total protein, albumin, globulin, bilirubin, cholesterol and urea and hematology.

Effects of various levels of dietary Lepidium sativum L. seeds in rats

A toxicity study was made on Lepidium sativum L. seeds used in Saudi traditional medicine for the treatment of various ailments. Lepidium sativum L. seed fed to Wistar albino rats at 2% (w/w) was non-toxic, Ten percent (w/w) was toxic but not fatal and 50% (w/w) of the diet for 6 weeks was lethal and caused depression in growth rate and entero-hepato-nephrotoxicity. Organ lesions accompanied by anemia and leukopenia were correlated with alterations in serum AST and ALT activities and concentrations of total protein, cholesterol, urea, and other serum constituents.

Interleukin-2 dependent selective activation of porcine gamma delta T lymphocytes by an extract from the leaves of Acanthospermum hispidum

The immunostimulatory capacity of Acanthospermum hispidum, a tropical plant which is used in the traditional medicine of Benin for the treatment of infectious diseases, was studied in the porcine immune system. These in vitro studies revealed the capacity of A. hispidum to enhance the proliferation of T lymphocytes after stimulation with ConA or allogeneic stimulator cells in the mixed leucocyte culture (MLC). The virus-specific MHC class II-restricted in vitro immune response against pseudorabies virus (PRV) was also enhanced in a co-stimulating manner. Phenotyping of T lymphocytes that had been activated in vitro in the presence of A. hispidum revealed an increase of activated gamma delta T lymphocytes with the phenotype CD2-CD5low+CD8-. In vitro analysis of the influence on the lymphocyte function demonstrated neither an increase of the immunoglobulin synthesis, nor of the interleukin-2 production, nor of the cytolytic activities. Experiments using separated T-lymphocyte subpopulations showed that the co-stimulatory activity was based on a synergism between T helper and gamma delta T lymphocytes, and that gamma delta T lymphocytes were the targets of the plant-derived extract. The gamma delta T cells which could not activated in mixed leukocyte cultures or with pseudorabies virus antigen in a secondary immune response, were reactive to the interleukin-2 released from antigen-stimulated T helper lymphocytes.

The toxicity of Aristolochia bracteata in goats

Diarrhea, dyspnea, tympany, arching of the back, loss of condition, and loss of hair from the back were the prominent signs when Aristolochia bracteata was given orally to goats. The main lesions were hemorrhages in the lungs, heart, and kidneys, fatty change and congestion in the liver, mucoid abomasitis and enteritis and straw-colored fluid in serous cavities. An increase in aspartate aminotransferase activity, ammonia and urea concentrations and a decrease in the concentrations of total protein and magnesium were detected in detected in the serum.