title: Do naïve ruminants degrade alkaloids in the rumen?
abstract: Three different methods for the culture of rumen microorganisms (Hungate's technique, the Hohenheim in vitro gas production method, and the semicontinuous rumen simulation technique) were employed to study the influence of various alkaloids (sparteine, lupanine, cytisine, atropine, quinidine, lobeline, harmaline, arecoline, nicotine, caffeine, pilocarpine, gramine, senecionine, and monocrotaline) on rumen microorganisms. Rumen micro-organisms from naive ruminants (sheep, cattle) that had not been exposed to the alkaloids before were generally not able to degrade most of the alkaloids. Only the alkaloids pilocarpine, gramine, and monocrotaline appeared to be degradable. Rumen microorganisms from a sheep preconditioned to lupin alkaloids tolerated lupanine much better than nonadapted microorganisms, but no degradation occurred. The findings indicate that the main site of detoxification in naive ruminants is not the rumen but more likely the liver and kidneys as in nonruminants.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Pharmazie und Molekulare Biotechnologie, Universität Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 364, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Ramón
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Aguiar
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wink
mesh_terms: D000470:Alkaloids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D004063:Digestion; D026121:Indole Alkaloids; D007668:Kidney / Q000378:metabolism*; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism*; D016686:Monocrotaline / Q000378:metabolism; D010862:Pilocarpine / Q000378:metabolism; D012417:Rumen / Q000378:metabolism*; D012418:Ruminants / Q000378:metabolism*; D012756:Sheep; D013045:Species Specificity; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000470:Alkaloids; D026121:Indole Alkaloids; D010862:Pilocarpine; D016686:Monocrotaline; C007884:gramine