Identification of T-2 toxin in moldy corn associated with a lethal toxicosis in dairy cattle.
Over a 5-month period during the winter of 1970-71, 20% of the lactating Holstein cows in a Wisconsin dairy herd died after prolonged ingestion of a diet containing 60% moldy corn infested with Fusarium tricinctum (2 x 10(5) propagules per g of moldy corn). Ethyl acetate extracts of the ground dried corn induced severe dermal reactions when applied to the skin of shaved 60-g albino rats and killed four of five 100-g rats that were force fed 1 ml in 2 ml of pure corn oil. T-2 toxin (3-hydroxy-4, 15-diacetoxy-8-[3-methylbutyryloxy]-12, 13-epoxy-Delta(9)-trichothecene) at concentrations of 2 mg per kg of dry corn was identified in purified extracts of the moldy corn by means of gas-liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. This concentration of T-2 toxin in the moldy feed and the nature of the toxic effects observed strongly suggest a major causal relationship.
D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D002849:Chromatography, Gas; D002855:Chromatography, Thin Layer; D005260:Female; D005517:Foodborne Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D005658:Fungi / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005670:Fusarium / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D009183:Mycotoxins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000506:poisoning; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000032:analysis; D051381:Rats; D012621:Seasons; D012882:Skin Tests; D014922:Wisconsin; D003313:Zea mays / Q000032:analysis*
D009183:Mycotoxins; D010936:Plant Extracts