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ABSTRACT: Crotalaria lanceolata E. Mey. and Crotalaria pallida Aiton. are leguminous plants of family Fabaceae found in most of the Brazilian territory. They were initially used as green manure and due their easy spread they are currently considered weeds in crops. Soybean and corn contamination can occur through the mechanical harvesting of these grains along with seeds of the Crotalaria species, which end up in the formulation of feed for production animals. Crotalaria spp. genus has toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA). Most plant species belonging to this genus can cause acute or chronic liver injury. In a first stage, one-day old broilers were divided into three groups: Group A (C. pallida seeds), Group B (C. lanceolata seeds), and Group C (Control). Groups A and B were divided into five subgroups, each with eight broilers, which received the following doses of the respective seeds in feed as of the 7th day of age: daily doses of 0.4%, 0.8% and 2.5%, and single doses of 15% and 25%. Four broilers in each study group were euthanized at 28 days of age - completing 21 days of seed consumption, and the four remaining broilers were euthanized at 42 days of age - completing 35 days of seed consumption. In a second stage, experiments were conducted using seeds of both the aforementioned plants with 28-day old broilers. These were divided into three groups of four animals each: Group D (C. pallida seeds) and Group E (C. lanceolata seeds), which received the respective seeds at daily doses of 1% and 2% in feed for 20 days, and Group F (Control). These broilers were euthanized when they were 80 days old. C. lanceolata seeds showed higher toxicity to broilers than C. pallida seeds, both supplied as of the 7th day of life. Clinical signs included inappetence, ruffled feathers, and brown diarrhea. The following gross lesions were observed: subcutaneous edema, ascites, hydropericardium, yellowish liver with hypertrophy or atrophy and enhanced lobular pattern, and distended gallbladder. Histologic lesions present in all birds in varying degrees were characterized by tumefaction and vacuolar degeneration of hepatocytes. The following clinical conditions and gross lesions were observed in the broilers: hepatocyte megalocytosis and karyomegaly, slight biliary epithelial hyperplasia, eosinophilic spheroids, and nuclear invagination with loss of hepatocyte cord architecture.

ABSTRACT: This study identified the different forms of ingestion of Senecio brasiliensis in cattle, diagnosed by the Animal Pathology Laboratory at CAV-UDESC, in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. A retrospective evaluation from 1987 to 2016 showed that ingestion has occurred voluntarily due to the presence of the adult plant in native field and/or involuntary, due to the presence of the plant in hay and silage, provided in the trough together with other pastures or by contamination in grain residues. These different forms of ingestion demonstrate the importance of epidemiologic investigation in the diagnosis of seneciosis.

RESUMO: Descrevem-se o quadro clínico, patológico e o potencial tóxico das folhas verdes de Crotalaria pallida em ovinos. Para o experimento folhas verdes de C. pallida foram coletadas no município de São João do Sul em Santa Catarina e administradas por via oral para seis ovinos adultos, em doses únicas de 40, 20, 10, 5, 2,5 e 2,5g/kg, e para dois ovinos, em doses diárias de 0,63 e 1,25g/kg durante 30 dias. Reproduziu-se a intoxicação com doses letais a partir de 2,5g/kg. Um dos ovinos que recebeu a dose única de 2,5g/kg e os que receberam as doses diárias, não adoeceram. Todos os ovinos que apresentaram sinais clínicos morreram entre 13 e 22 horas após a administração das folhas. Sinais clínicos leves como fezes pastosas, inquietação e aumento das frequências cardíaca e respiratória tiveram início cerca em 11 horas após a ingestão da planta. Minutos antes da morte observaram-se dispneia intensa com respiração abdominal pronunciada. As principais lesões macroscópicas foram restritas à cavidade torácica, como hidrotórax e edema pulmonar acentuado. O exame microscópico revelou no pulmão, edema acentuado e difuso na superfície pleural, nos espaços interlobulares e ao redor das artérias peribronquiais e peribronquiolares. Edema multifocal foi observado no interior de alvéolos e ao redor de brônquios e bronquíolos, além de leve infiltrado neutrofílico multifocal. O quadro clínico-patológico da intoxicação experimental foi similar ao observado na intoxicação espontânea e caracterizou-se por edema iulmonar acentuado e morte logo após o início dos sinais clínicos.

ABSTRACT: Plants of the genus Senecio sp. are known to produce hepatic lesions in different animal species, including man. To evaluate the toxicity of three species of Senecio found in regions where cattle are bred in the state of Santa Catarina, experiments were conducted on broiler chickens (Gallus domesticus). Green leaves of S. conyzaefolius, S. vernonioides and S. paulensis were collected and dried in the shade. After drying, the leaves were ground, mixed into the feed and fed to the chickens divided into 3 groups. Group 1 and Group 2 received single doses of 5g/kg and 20g/kg, respectively. Group 3 was given daily doses of 1g/kg for 20 days (values corresponding to green plant) and Group 4 (control) received free feed of the plant. For each group, five chickens were submitted to necropsy at 30 days and five to 60 days after planting, and five chickens that consumed S. vernonioides and S. conyzaefolius at the dose of 1g/kg for 20 days were necropsied at 90 days after the beginning of the experiment. Macroscopic lesions were observed in chickens that consumed S. vernonioides at a dose of 1 g/kg for 20 days in birds necropsied at 30, 60 and 90 days and were characterized mainly by liver of firm consistency, diminished in size with yellowish coloration and evident lobular pattern, ascites and hydropericardium. In microscopy the main lesions observed were megalocytosis, hepatocyte swelling, fibrosis and biliary hyperplasia and were more intense at the dosage of 1 g/kg for 20 days for S. vernonioides and less severe in the chickens that ingested S. conyzaefolius. The chickens that received S. paulensis showed no macroscopic and microscopic lesions.