Vernonia mollissima, a poisonous plant responsible for losses of cattle in Mato Grosso, Brazil

• Autor(a) principal: Döbereiner, Jürgen
• Data de Publicação: 2014
• Outros Autores: Tokarnia, Carlos Hubinger, Purisco, Élio
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Pesquisa Agropecuária Brasileira (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://seer.sct.embrapa.br/index.php/pab/article/view/17007
• topic: Vernonia molissima; Compositae; poisonous plants; hepatotoxic plants; plant poisoning; cattle; pathology; Vernonia mollissima; Compositae; plantas tóxicas; plantas hepatotóxicas; intoxicação por planta; bovinos; patologia

A disease in cattle, that annually causes losses in southern Mato Grosso when the pastures sprout, especially after burning, was characterized to be of hepatotoxic origin. Experiments were made in cattle with Vernonia mollissima Don, of the Compositae family, which occurs in this area. The fresh plant was administered orally to seven bovines, four of which showed symptoms of poisoning and died. It was also given to four bovines in its dried state, three of which died. The amount of fresh plant necessary to cause death varied from 10 to 20 g of the plant per kg body weight. The dried plant, kept at room temperature during one year, did not diminish in toxicity. The first symptoms of poisoning with the fresh plant appeared between 15 and 29 hours after its administration and lasted from 20 to 34 hours consisting mainly in lack of appetite, constipation, muscular tremors, laborious respiration and death; during the last 3 to 10 hours the animals layed on their side making peddling movements with their legs. The main post-mortem findings in these experiments were nutmeg appearance of the cut surface of the larger part of the liver, congestion and hemorrhages, mainly by diapedesis, in the small gut, cecum and colon. The most important histopathological findings were a massive necrosis of the liver cells. Comparing the pathological picture of the natural disease and the experimental poisoning and considering the history of the disease and the occurrence of the plant, it is conclude that Vernonia mollissima is probably responsible for cattle losses of this nature.