Intoxicação experimental pelas sementes de Abrus precatorius (Leg. Papilionoideae) em ovinos

The oral administration of the whole or finely ground seeds of Abrus precatorius (Leg. Papilionoideae), caused severe gastroenteritis in sheep. The lethal dose was 7.5 and 1.25 g/kg of respectively the whole and finely ground seeds. In the experiments with the whole seeds and lethal outcome, first symptoms were observed between 15 and 30 hours after administration, and the course of the poisoning varied from 35 to 41 hours; the period between administration of the seeds and death varied from 51 to 71 hours. The dose of 5 g/kg caused only slight poisoning and the animals were recovered between 6 and 8 hours after administration of the seeds. In the experiments with the finely ground seeds and lethal outcome first symptoms were observed between 6 and 21 hours after administration, the course of poisoning was from 13 to 14 hours and the period between administration and death varied from 21 to 33 hours. The doses of 0.937, 0.625 and 0.3125 g/kg caused respectively severe, moderate and slight poisoning with recovery respectively in 7, 4, and 3 days after administration of the seeds. The clinical-pathological picture was the same wether the animals received the whole or finely ground seeds. The main symptoms were colic and foetid diarrhea, with mucus and fibrine (pseudomembranes). Those animals which had received the larger doses, defecated frequently, in form of a jet of liquid feces. The main post-mortem findings were observed in the digestive tract, from abomasum to rectum; its wall had congestion, hemorrhages and oedema; fibrine covered the mucosa or was present in the intestinal contents, which were liquid in the small intestine and mucous in the large intestine. The mesenteric lymphnodes were swollen. The main histopathological findings concerned the digestive tract, especially the abomasum, but also from duodenum to the rectum, and were necrosis/hemorraghes of the mucosa, congestion and oedema of the submucosa and serosa.