TY - JOUR
T1 - Short-term exposure of dairy cows to pyrrolizidine alkaloids from tansy ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris Gaertn.)
T2 - effects on health and performance
AU - Knoop, Kirsten
AU - Knappstein, Karin
AU - Kaltner, Florian
AU - Gabler, Angelika Miriam
AU - Taenzer, Julian
AU - These, Anja
AU - Kersten, Susanne
AU - Meyer, Ulrich
AU - Frahm, Jana
AU - Kluess, Jeannette
AU - Hüther, Liane
AU - Gottschalk, Christoph
AU - Bach Knudsen, Knud Erik
AU - Saltzmann, Janine
AU - Dänicke, Sven
PY - 2023/10
Y1 - 2023/10
N2 - The increasing spread of ragworts is observed with concern. Ragworts like tansy ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris Gaertn.) or marsh ragwort (J. aquatica) contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA) which may induce hepatotoxic effects. Grazing animals usually avoid ragworts if their pasture management is appropriate. Preserved feed prepared from ragworts contaminated meadows may, however, lead to a significant exposure to PA. Previous studies on toxicity of PA for dairy cows revealed inconsistent results due to feeding ragwort plant material which was associated with heterogeneous PA exposure and thus failed to conclusively deduce critical PA doses. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to expose dairy cows (n = 4 per group) in a short-term scenario for 28 days with increasing PA doses (PA1: 0.47 mg PA/kg body weight (BW)/day (d); PA2: 0.95 mg PA/kg BW/d; PA3: 1.91 mg PA/kg BW/d) via oral administration by gavage of a defined PA-extract. While group PA3 was dosed with the PA-extract alone, groups PA2 and PA1 received PA-extracts blended in similar volumes with molasses to provide comparable amounts of sugar. Additionally, two control groups were treated either with water (CONWater) or with molasses (CONMolasses) to assess the effects of sugar without PA interference. While clinical traits including dry matter intake, milking performance, rectal body temperature, ruminal activity and body condition score (BCS) were not influenced by PA exposure, activities of enzymes indicative for liver damages, such as gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH), increased significantly over time at an exposure of 1.91 mg total PA/kg BW/d.
AB - The increasing spread of ragworts is observed with concern. Ragworts like tansy ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris Gaertn.) or marsh ragwort (J. aquatica) contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA) which may induce hepatotoxic effects. Grazing animals usually avoid ragworts if their pasture management is appropriate. Preserved feed prepared from ragworts contaminated meadows may, however, lead to a significant exposure to PA. Previous studies on toxicity of PA for dairy cows revealed inconsistent results due to feeding ragwort plant material which was associated with heterogeneous PA exposure and thus failed to conclusively deduce critical PA doses. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to expose dairy cows (n = 4 per group) in a short-term scenario for 28 days with increasing PA doses (PA1: 0.47 mg PA/kg body weight (BW)/day (d); PA2: 0.95 mg PA/kg BW/d; PA3: 1.91 mg PA/kg BW/d) via oral administration by gavage of a defined PA-extract. While group PA3 was dosed with the PA-extract alone, groups PA2 and PA1 received PA-extracts blended in similar volumes with molasses to provide comparable amounts of sugar. Additionally, two control groups were treated either with water (CONWater) or with molasses (CONMolasses) to assess the effects of sugar without PA interference. While clinical traits including dry matter intake, milking performance, rectal body temperature, ruminal activity and body condition score (BCS) were not influenced by PA exposure, activities of enzymes indicative for liver damages, such as gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH), increased significantly over time at an exposure of 1.91 mg total PA/kg BW/d.
KW - Animal Feed/analysis
KW - Animals
KW - Cattle
KW - Diet/veterinary
KW - Female
KW - Plant Extracts
KW - Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids/toxicity
KW - Senecio
KW - Sugars
KW - Tanacetum
KW - Water
KW - clinical chemical traits
KW - dairy cows
KW - performance parameter
KW - pyrrolizidine alkaloids
KW - short-term exposure
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85174271625&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/1745039X.2023.2261806
DO - 10.1080/1745039X.2023.2261806
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 37842997
SN - 1745-039X
VL - 77
SP - 363
EP - 384
JO - Archives of Animal Nutrition
JF - Archives of Animal Nutrition
IS - 5
ER -