title: Bromosulphophthalein clearance rates in sheep with pyrrolizidine liver damage.
abstract: Sheep fed a ration containing 50% of dried Heliotropium europaeum showed a marked decline in bromosulphophthalein (BSP) fractional clearance rate during the first 3 months feeding. Thereafter, the response of individual animals varied widely on a time basis, although 3 groups could be identified. In the terminal stages, mean clearance rates were below 20% of initial values, with some sheep showing a decline in excess of 90%. Loss of liver functional capacity was generally much greater than indicated by the degree of damage revealed by histopathology. Thus, a suitably modified test could have considerable prognostic value in the field. In this investigation, all sheep with clearance rates below 0.15 died when exposed to a further period of H. europaeum feeding.
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D056486:Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000662:veterinary*; D010939:Plant Poisoning / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000662:veterinary*; D011763:Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids / Q000506:poisoning*; D012756:Sheep; D012757:Sheep Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D013448:Sulfobromophthalein
chemical_list: D011763:Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids; D013448:Sulfobromophthalein