Contamination with ergot bodies (Claviceps purpurea sensu lato) of two horse pastures in Northern Germany

Abstract

Because the occurrence of Claviceps in European pastures may have been overlooked to cause serious health problem for grazing animals, we documented the degree of Claviceps contamination in two horse pastures and estimated whether the horses could have ingested a critical quantity of alkaloids. We counted the Claviceps sclerotia and determined alkaloid levels using high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. Depending on the location, the number of sclerotia varied from 0.09 to 0.19 per square meter (central area) and from 0.23 to 55.8 per square meter (border strips). Alkaloid levels in individual sclerotia also varied in different genera of grasses, ranging from 0.98 ± 0.17 μg/kg in Agrostis sp. to 25.82 ± 9.73 μg/kg in Dactylis sp., equivalent to 0.98 μg/kg and 7.26 mg/kg. Sclerotia from Dactylis contained high levels of ergosine (0.209 % ± 0.100 %) and ergocristine (0.374 % ± 0.070 %). Depending on the localization in pastures, alkaloid levels in forage (dry matter, DM) ranged from 16.1 to 45.4 μg/kg in central areas and from 23.9 to 722 μg/kg in border strips. The amount of alkaloids that a horse could have ingested depended on its daily DM uptake, which was higher in the central areas (5.85 kg/day) than in the border strips (2.73 or 0.78 kg/day). In the central areas, this amount of alkaloids ranged from 94.2 to 265.9 μg/day; and in the border strips, from 65.3 (in 2.73 kg DM/day) to as much as 563.8 μg/day (in 0.78 kg DM/day). All these amounts are higher than the European averages for alkaloids ingested by horses via feedstuffs.

The presence and distribution of cannabinoid type 1 and 2 receptors in the mandibular gland: The influence of different physical forms of diets on their expression in piglets

“…Interestingly, however, the type of the diet fed to pigs differentially affected the parotid and mandibular glands. In fact, while tannins or other toxic substances promptly affected the parotid but not the mandibular gland, the physical form of the diet had an opposite effect (Aboling, Drotleff, Cappai, & Kamphues, ; Cappai, Wolf, Dimauro, Pinna, & Kamphues, ; Cappai et al., ).…”

Effects of Dietary Zn/Se and α-Tocopherol Supplementation on Metabolic Milieu, Haemogram and Semen Traits of Breeding Stallions

“…In view of this fact, the introduction of α-TOH is of crucial importance in the diet of the stallion, commonly housed in individual boxes and fed on hay and compound feeding stuffs. On the other hand, pasture contamination with agents showing a direct effect on semen volume is often overlooked [1,14], but clinical cases on breeding stallions are not reported, to the best of our knowledge. Systemic and local oxidative stress may be augmented during the stud season and semen production may be affected if dietary formulations do not meet nutritional requirements.…”

The metabolic profile of Asinara (albino) and Sardo donkeys (pigmented) (Equus asinus L., 1758) points to unequivocal breed assignment of individuals

“…In general, wild animals are aware grazers in nature and can wisely select feeding sources to avoid toxic or harmful plant species. Captive animals or domestic livestock may be untrained to anti-pastoral or anti-nutritional traits of plants in natural pastures (Aboling et al, 2016). Potential xenobiotic ingestion leading to photosensitization in Asinara donkeys cannot be excluded but represents a remote explanation to skin redness and epiphora observed.…”