S.S. Negi

A Review of the Toxicity of Lantana camara (Linn) in Animals

Lantana poisoning has been taking a heavy toll of livestock year after year. All aspects of the problem are reviewed. Lantana poisoning in cattle, sheep, buffalo, and guinea pigs caused obstructive jaundice, photosensitization, and rise in serum glutamicoxaloaetic transaminase activity. The symptoms could be reproduced in sheep by administration of purified Lantadene A. Liver and kidneys are the most affected organs during lantana poisoning. Intoxication of guinea pigs with Lantana camara leads to marked alterations in major tissue constituents in liver an kidneys. Hepatic and renal xanthine oxidase activity is also elevated during lantana poisoning. No antidote is available against the toxic section of Lantana camara. Symptomatic treatments have been proposed with limited success. Knowledge of the biochemical mechanism of lantana intoxication at the cellular, subcellular, and molecular levels is essential in order to evolve a successful antidote and more rational therapy during lantana intoxication.

An approach to the determination of rumen degradability of nitrogen in low-grade roughages and partition of nitrogen therein

Rumen degradability of dry matter (D.M.) and N in wheat straw, rice straw and local grass hay, containing 5·16, 6·37 and 4·58 mg N/g D.M. respectively, was estimated by rumen fermentation measurements at 3, 6, 9, 12, 24 and 48 h using the nylon bag technique. The degradability of D.M. at an assumed rumen outflow rate of 0·025/h was 21·7, 34·9 and 22·4 for wheat straw, rice straw and grass hay, respectively. Theestimation of degradability of N was confounded by thedeposition of ruminal microbial nitrogen in the nylon bag. A correction was made by measuring the accumulation of N when N·free fibre and cellulose were incubated in the nylon bags. The effective degradability of N in the roughages at the assumed rumen outflow rate was 54·5, 36·9 and 42·8% respectively, showing that the roughages contain rumen-degradable N for microbial nutrition. The undegradable nitrogen (UDN) values in wheat straw, rice straw and grass hay were 2·35, 4·02 and 2·62 mg/g D.M., and after correction for unavailable acid detergent-linked N, the available UDN values were 0·58, 2·95 and 1·32 mg/g D.M., respectively.

Assay of proteins by Lowry's method in the presence of high concentrations of β-mercaptoethanol

Abstract β-Mercaptoethanol interferes in the determination of protein by the Lowry method (1–6). The interference can be overcome by the precipitation of proteins by trichloroacetic acid or acetone or by the use of H 2 O 2 which oxidizes the sulfhydryl groups of β-mercaptoethanol (5). Both these methods have inherent disadvantages. Ross and Schatz (5) described a procedure for protein determination in the presence of high concentrations of β-mercaptoethanol where they removed the interference by the addition of iodoacetate. But addition of iodoacetate decreased the sensitivity of the reaction. The removal of interference by β-mercaptoethanol by heating has also been reported (3), but we observed that this procedure is not feasible when a large amount of β-mercaptoethanol is present in the protein samples. In the method reported in this communication, we made use of vacuum drying for the removal of interference by β-merceptoethanol. This method is simple, sensitive, takes less time, and can be used for the determination of protein in the presence of β-mercaptoethanol at levels as high as 10% in a sample volume of 1.0 ml (1.43 mmol) without using any additional chemical steps.

Influence of method of calculation and length of period of rumen fermentation on the effective degradability of dry matter and nitrogen in some tree forages

Abstract The effective degradability (ED) of dry matter (DM) and nitrogen (N) in the rumen in 9 tree forages, based on the degradation characteristics at various hours of in situ incubation in nylon bags, has been determined according to two known models and a suggested modified computation of the same basic data. The peak incubation period was extended from 48 to 72 and 96 h. The statistical differences in ED of DM and N obtained by 3 modes of calculation for 3 peak periods of fermentation are discussed. The ED values by the two known methods differ significantly (P

Changes in blood constituents of guinea pigs in lantana toxicity

Lantana toxicity of guinea pigs elicited an increase in hematocrit, erythrocyte and leukocyte number, hemoglobin, urea-nitrogen and bilirubin contents in the blood of the affected animals. Most of the bilirubin was present in the conjugated form. Enzyme activities of glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase, acid phosphatase, lactate dehydrogenase, glutamate dehydrogenase, sorbitol dehydrogenase in the blood plasma of affect animals exhibited a marked increase. Acid phosphatase activity was inhibited by tartrate. Enzyme activity of alkaline phosphatase remained unchanged while that of glutamic pyruvic transaminase showed a marginal decrease.

Hepatic and renal toxicity of lantana in the guinea pig

Oral administration of lantana leaf powder to guinea pigs caused a decrease in hepatic and renal tissue dry weight, DNA and protein contents. Total carbohydrate content decreased in liver but was not affected in the kidneys. RNA content (as a ratio of tissue dry weight) showed an increase in both liver and kidneys. Lipid content of liver tissue increased while it decreased in the kidneys. Relative amounts of protein, DNA and RNA showed significant alterations in both the tissues.

Immobilization and properties of β-D-galactosidase fromLactobacillus bulgaricus

Abstractβ-D-galactosidase (EC 3.2.1.23) fromLactobacillus bulgaricus (1373) was immobilized by entrapment in a Polyacrylamide gel lattice. The enzymatic properties of the immobilized β-galactosidase were compared with those of the native enzyme. The temperature and pH optima were not affected by the immobilization. After entrapment of the enzyme no significant change was observed in its thermostability. The pH stability of the immobilized enzyme was higher than that of the native enzyme on the acidic side. TheKm values for the immobilized and native β-galactosidase with both lactose ando-nitrophenyl-β-D-galactoside as substrates were comparable. The immobilized enzyme could be repeatedly used 12 times without any loss of activity. No loss in the activity of the immobilized β-galactosidase was found after its storage for 30 days at 4°C and for 20 days at 25°C.

Fragility of Erythrocytes in Animals Affected by Lantana Poisoning

Clinical observations on four male cow calves and three other lantana poisoned animals under field conditions have been made along with hematological studies, including observations on plasma bilirubin content and osmotic fragility of erythrocytes. Four healthy male cow calves served as control. Five clinically advanced cases succumbed within 1 to 10 days of observation. Hematocrit values in four of the seven affected animals were abnormally high. The total plasma bilirubin content in the fatal cases was of the order of 5 to 50 times the normal value while, in calves that recovered, it was not more than 3 times. The osmotic fragility of erythrocytes was measured by the rate of hemolysis in decreasing concentrations of saline. The erythrocytes of normal animals resisted hemolysis till the saline concentration was lowered to 0.60%, and it was complete at the low saline concentration of 0.30%. However, in lantana poisoned animals, hemolysis started even in 0.72% saline and was complete at a saline concentration of 0.44%. The hemolysis curves of animals that died were far removed from the normal, but those of the calves that recovered and the one that died but had the lowest bilirubin content closely approached the normal curve.

Rumen Degradability of Nitrogen in Typical Cultivated Grasses and Leguminous Fodders

Abstract Four bullocks with rumen fistulas were used to study rumen degradable nitrogen (RDN) and rumen undegradable nitrogen (UDN) in 4 typical cultivated forages at 2 stages of harvesting, using the nylon bag technique. Pepsin insoluble nitrogen (PIN) when expressed as a percentage of total nitrogen (TN) differed significantly between forages (P cowpea > berseem > oats. The effective rumen degradability of dry matter was lower for later harvested material for all forages except maize. The correlation of RDN to TN was highly significant (r = 0.93) and that to water soluble nitrogen (WSN) was significant (r = 0.77). The correlations of UDN to PIN and to water insoluble nitrogen (WIN) were also significant (r = 0.77 and 0.80, respectively). The available UDN is overestimated if not corrected for unavailable fibre-bound nitrogen.

Complexes of urea and formaldehyde as non-protein nitrogen compounds in ruminant rations: A review

Abstract The chemistry and formation of urea formaldehyde complexes and their utilization as non-protein nitrogen seurces by ruminants have been reviewed. Complexes of the desired rate of ammonia release can be formed by changing the molar ratios of urea and formaldehyde. The treatment conditions, viz. temperature, time and pH, influence the nature of the complex formed. The formation of highly polymerized adducts results in inert moieties which are not utilized. Efforts should be made to prepare complexes under conditions which result in simpler derivatives leading to better utilization. Conditions for the formation of simpler complexes are not yet well defined and further work is required.