SPONTANEOUS POISONING BY Combretum glaucocarpum Mart. [sin.: Thiloa glaucocarpa (Mart.) Eichler] (Combretaceae) IN CATTLE

Abstract

The present study aimed to describe, for the first time in Tocantins State, the epidemiological, clinical, and pathological aspects of an outbreak of Combretum glaucocarpa poisoning in cattle. From a herd of 200 cattle that had access to the plant, 70 animals died. The signs were swelling of the posterior thigh, groin, perineum, scrotum, ventral abdomen, chest, and barb; dark and fetid stools; marked weight loss, and rough hair. The clinical course ranged from 3 to 20 days. The serum activities of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate amininotransferase and the serum concentrations of urea and creatinine were markedly elevated in all the ten animals examined. The gross lesions consisted of large amouts of transudate in the peritoneal, pleural, and pericardial cavities. Edema was also seen in the urinary bladder, perirenal tissue and gallbladder subserosa at its insertion to the liver. The liver was enlarged, congested, and bluish. Petechiae and ecchymosis were observed in the epicardium, myocardium, tracheal mucosa, omentum, ruminal serosa, urinary bladder, and testicles. Suffusions were detected in the brain. Histopathology of the liver revealed mild centrilobular degeneration. In the kidney, hemorrhagic foci in corticomedullary junction with mild tubular degeneration were observed. Additionally, some renal tubules had necrotic epithelial cells and hyaline casts. It is the first report of poisoning by C. glaucocarpum in cattle in Tocantins.
Keywords: nephrotoxic plants; Sipaúba; toxicology; tubular nephrosis.