The genus Astragalus is widespread over the world being some toxic to livestock. Astragalus pehuenches has historically been incriminated in poisoning sheep, cattle and horses in Argentina. Due to the lack of information on the toxicological aspects of this species, a study was carry out to evaluate the toxigenic potential of A. pehuenches in Rio Negro province. High concentrations of swainsonine from 0.070 to 0.097% were determined in this region. Swainsonine concentrations was highly variable between specimens (range: 0.001- 0.204%), however no differences were found regarding the toxigenic potential between areas (p=0.277). This study confirms the risk that this species it constitutes for livestock in Patagonia region.

El género Astragalus está ampliamente distribuido en el mundo y algunas especies son tóxicas para el ganado. En Argentina, Astragalus pehuenches ha sido incriminado históricamente en casos de intoxicación en ovinos, bovinos y equinos. Debido a la escasa información sobre los aspectos toxicológicos de la especie, se llevó a cabo un estudio con el fin de evaluar el potencial toxigénico de A. pehuenches en la provincia de Río Negro. A nivel regional se determinaron altas concentraciones de swainsonina de 0,070 y 0,097%. Si bien no se encontraron diferencias del potencial toxigénico entre zonas de cosechas (p=0,277), se observó una alta variación de las concentraciones de swainsonina entre especímenes (rango: 0,001-0,204%). A partir de este trabajo se confirma el riesgo que constituye esta especie para el ganado de la región patagónica.

Primary cultures of Mannheimia granulomatis were established in chicken embryos to assess their capacity to stimulate fibroblast proliferation. The capacity of the bacterium-activated macrophages to stimulate cytokine and enzyme proliferation was assessed in a mouse peritoneum macrophage culture. To evaluate the bacteria infection on fibroblasts and their growth within 48h in relation to the active macrophages, cultures were washed and trypsinized and the cells counted. Results showed no significant differences when the bacteria-infected fibroblasts were mixed with bacterial extract (P=0.9682). The treatment using just products of macrophages resulted similar to the negative control. Significant differences on cell proliferation were established (P=0,0039) when the products of M. granulomatis-activated macrophages were used, meaning that bacterial components were unable to promote fibroblast increase. Further research is needed to elucidate the effect of M. granulomatis on the macrophages.

Relata-se uma enfermidade hereditária em bovinos caracterizada por acúmulo lisossomal de glicogênio em diversos órgãos. A doença foi diagnosticada em um rebanho da raça Brahman, no município de Porto Lucena, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Os animais afetados, a partir de 1 mês de idade, apresentavam dificuldade em acompanhar a mãe e crescimento retardado, desenvolviam fraqueza e tremores musculares, letargia e perda de condição corporal progressivos. Todos os bezerros eram descendentes do mesmo touro. Foi realizada necropsia em três bezerros doentes; palidez muscular do tronco e membros foi a única alteração macroscópica encontrada. Vacuolização citoplasmática de diversos órgãos foi a principal alteração histológica observada. Os vacúolos citoplasmáticos eram mais evidentes na musculatura esquelética, miocárdio, especialmente nas fibras de Purkinje e em neurônios do Sistema Nervoso Central (SNC). Nos tecidos mais afetados foi observada grande quantidade de grânulos ácido periódico de Schiff (PAS), positivos e negativos quando o tecido era tratado previamente com diastase. Uma mutação no gene da glicosidase alfa ácida, causadora da glicogenose generalizada em bovinos Brahman, a 1057?TA, foi detectada pela técnica de reação em cadeia de polimerase (PCR) em tecidos dos animais necropsiados. Também foi detectada a presença dessa mutação em amostras de sangue de animais parentes dos bezerros doentes. Os achados clínicos, patológicos e moleculares são semelhante ás descrições de glicogenose tipo II em bovinos da raça Brahman descritos na Austrália. Não foram encontrados relatos anteriores em revistas indexadas sobre glicogenose hereditária em bovinos Brahman no Brasil.

An inherited disease of cattle, characterized by lysosomal storage of glycogen in several tissues, is reported. The disease was diagnosed in a Brahman herd in the municipality of Porto Lucena, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Affected calves, after one month of age, showed progressive difficulty to follow their mother, retarded growth, muscular weakness and tremors, lethargy and poor body condition. All affected calves were sired by the same bull. Necropsy was performed on three affected calves. The only gross lesion detected was paleness of the skeletal muscles of the trunk and limbs. Cytoplasmic vacuoles, the main histological lesion, were particularly evident in skeletal muscles, myocardium and Purkinje fibers, in neurons of the brain and spinal cord. Large amounts of periodic acid Schiff (PAS) positive granules were also observed in these most severely affected tissues. Pretreatment with diastase completely abolished the PAS reactivity. The 1057?TA, a lethal mutation in the gene of the acid alpha-glucosidase, which causes generalized glycogenosis in Brahman cattle, was detected by PCR in paraffin embedded tissues of affected animals on which post-mortem examination was performed. Clinical, histological and molecular findings were similar to previous descriptions of generalized glycogenosis in Brahman cattle in Australia. No previous indexed reports about generalized glycogenosis of Brahman cattle in Brazil could be found.

Wistar male rats, 3 months of age were given ad-libitum a nutritionally adequate diet and demineralized drinking water. The Molybdenum (Mo) and Tungsten (W) were provided in the drinking water at 200 ppm concentration. Intestinal tumors were induced by 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH) given subcuta-neously as 16 weekly doses at 20 mg/kg body weight. Mo in the form of (NH 4 ) 6 Mo 7 O 24 4H 2 O or W in the form of (Na 2 WO 4 ) were provided in the drinking water two months before the first DMH treatment and were continued during 4 months more until the last DMH treatment. Three months after the last carcinogen injec-tion, all animals were sacrificed and examined for intestinal tumors. The number, size and location of the tumors were recorded and the pathology was examined. The addition of Mo to the drinking water induced an increase of hepatic Mo content. At the end of the second month, the hepatic content of Mo was 5.61 ppm, compared with control and W groups (2.18 and 0.96 ppm, respectively). A significantly lower incidence of tumors was observed in the Mo group (47), compared with the control group given DMH alone (105) and W group (113). On the other hand, the Mo group showed a significant decrease in the numbers of multiple tumors per rat.