Decreased expression of cardiac troponin C is associated with cardiac lesions in Amorimia exotropica poisoned cattle

The plants which cause sudden death of cattle in Brazil occupy a leading position for losses in the cattle industry. Amorimia exotropica is one of the plants pertaining to this group. Diagnostic findings in these cases may be inconclusive; further knowledge is necessary. This paper identifies cardiac lesions through anti-cardiac troponin C (cTnC) immunehistochemistry performed in tissues from cattle poisoned after consumption of A.exotropica in southern Brazil. Heart fragments from nine A. exotropica-poisoned cattle were studied immunohistochemically using anti-human cTnC as the primary antibody. In the hearts from all of the poisoned cattle, there was a sharp decrease in the cTnC expression level in the cytoplasm of groups of cardiomyocytes. A significant decrease in anti-cTnC immunoreactivity occurred particularly in degenerated or necrotic cardiomyocytes. Occasional groups of cells showed complete loss of immunolabeling. In the remaining intact cardiomyocytes from poisoned cattle and in cardiomyocytes from six cattle that died from other causes there was intense cytoplasmic staining

Intoxicação por Senecio spp. em bovinos no Rio Grande do Sul: condições ambientais favoráveis e medidas de controle

Este trabalho teve por objetivo revisar os principais aspectos da intoxicação por Senecio spp. no Rio Grande do Sul no que se refere à patologia, patogenia e epidemiologia dessa importante causa de morte em bovinos nesse Estado. Foram abordados, também, os principais fatores climáticos e ambientais que aparentemente favorecem a emergência e o estabelecimento da planta e a ocorrência da intoxicação, que tem aumentado a sua frequência nos últimos anos no Estado, e as possíveis formas de controle da planta incluindo o manejo correto do solo e a utilização de espécies domésticas menos susceptíveis nas áreas invadidas