title: Effects of Senna occidentalis on chick bursa of Fabricius.
abstract: Senna occidentalis (L) Link (formerly called Cassia occidentalis) is a toxic leguminous plant found ubiquitously as a contaminant of crops. All parts of the plant are toxic, but most of the S. occidentalis toxicity is found in the seeds. S. occidentalis has been shown to be toxic to several animal species, causing degenerative lesions mainly in muscles. This is the first report describing alterations in chick lymphoid organs caused by S. occidentalis seeds. The objectives of this study were to describe the effects of the treatment with seeds and its fraction external tegument (TE) on the development of chicks and their lymphoid organs bursa of Fabricius and spleen. Chicks that received a commercial ration with 1% TE had reduced body and lymphoid organ weights. The bursa of Fabricius presented reduction in the diameters of the follicles, and in the thickness of the cortical and medullary regions. The spleen presented depleted lymphoid tissue in the white pulp. These results indicate that the active principle of S. occidentalis is more concentrated on its TE fraction, and that it can cause weight loss as well as alterations in the lymphoid organs in chicks. The consequences of these alterations should be further investigated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Zootechny, University of São Paulo, Av Prof Dr Orlando Marques de Paiva 87, CEP 05508-900 São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Tereza C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Silvana L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Gorniak
authors.forename: Silvia C S
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Oloris
authors.forename: Paulo C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Raspantini
authors.forename: Mitsue
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haraguchi
authors.forename: Maria L Z
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Dagli
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D002060:Bursa of Fabricius / Q000473:pathology*; D002645:Chickens; D005506:Food Contamination; D008221:Lymphoid Tissue / Q000473:pathology; D009929:Organ Size; D010939:Plant Poisoning / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D011897:Random Allocation; D012639:Seeds / Q000633:toxicity*; D029846:Senna Plant / Q000633:toxicity*; D013154:Spleen / Q000473:pathology