Plantas cardiotóxicas em ruminantes no Brasil

Abstract

Cardiotoxic plants affect the heart and result in pathological changes according to the clinical sign presented. This group can be divided into intoxication with superacute evolution (sudden death without significant macroscopic lesion), subacute to chronic (which occur in chronic heart failure) or plants that contain cardiotoxic glycosides. In Brazil, include the genus Palicourea sp., Amorimia sp., Psychotria sp., Niedenzuella sp., Fridericia sp., Tanaecium sp., Nerium sp. and Kalanchoe sp. Some of those were been notified or has been suspected to contain monofluoroacetate (MFA) as a toxic principle. This dissertation is divided in two articles: the first one that aims to update on the main cardiotoxic plants in ruminants in Brazil, describing its epidemiological aspects (considering the botanic change of the genus prior referred as Mascagnia to Amorimia and Arrabidaea to Fridericia), clinical, pathological, diagnostical forms, control and prophylactic methods, such as the transfaunation with bactéria isolation that degrades MFA, food aversion or the use of acetamide; the second objectifies to describle the epidemiological, clinical and pathological aspects of a intoxication outbreak by Kalanchoe blossfeldiana in bovines from the semiarid region of Pernambuco State in Brazil. So, there has been an investigation in a property in the city of Bezerros, where they where inspected the cattle pasture, analyzing the symptomatology of 17 bovines Consisting in tachypnea, tachycardia, rumen atony and haemorrhagic diarrhea. From two bovine subjects necropsies there was found petechial haemorrhages and ecchymoses in the atria, epicardium and papillary muscles and areas with severe congestion and petechial haemorrhages in the serous layer of the small intestine, sometimes containing clots and, in the histopathology was observed that in areas of cardiac bleeding there was inflammatory infiltrate and necrosis of coagulation of muscle fibers. In the submucosa of the small intestine there was edema, infiltration of mononuclear cells and macrophages containing brown pigment; In the mucosa there was hemorrhage, reduction of villus height and necrosis of the epithelium. The determinant condiction to the intoxication occurrence in this flock was the food shortage and wrong handling of plant pruning, basing the case in history of the plant consuption, in the Epidemiology, clinical signs and lesions found, consistent with the cardiotoxic glycosides that the plant possesses. Although the intoxication of cattle by this plant is not common, its wide distribution in Brazil as an ornamental plant predisposes the emergence of intoxication cases.