title: Effects of the ergot alkaloids dihydroergotamine, ergonovine, and ergotamine on growth of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in vitro.
abstract: A series of experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of ergot alkaloids (dihydroergotamine, ergonovine, and ergotamine) on E. coli O157:H7 in both pure and mixed ruminal fluid culture. Alkaloids were added to solutions of E. coli O157:H7 strains 933 (pure and ruminal cultures) and 6058 (ruminal culture only), and growth rates and colony-forming units (CFU) of E. coli O157:H7 were measured. Two mixtures of all three alkaloids at either 2 or 500 microM for each alkaloid decreased (p < 0.001) the growth rate of E. coli O157:H7 in pure culture compared to the individual alkaloids. Dihydroergotamine tended (p = 0.07) to reduce growth rate of E. coli O157:H7 in pure culture compared with ergonovine or ergotamine alone. Increased concentrations of dihydroergotamine and ergotamine decreased (p < 0.003) growth rate of E. coli O157:H7 but increasing concentrations of ergonovine did not influence (p > 0.10) E. coli O157:H7 growth rate. Similar to results in pure culture, a mixture of all three alkaloids at various concentrations for each alkaloid decreased (p < 0.001) the CFU of E. coli O157:H7 strain 6058 in mixed ruminal culture compared to the individual ergot alkaloids. Dihydroergotamine decreased (p = 0.04) CFU of E. coli O157:H7 strain 6058 when compared to ergonovine but CFU were similar (p > 0.10) between dihydroergotamine and ergotamine. Ruminal and (or) intestinal populations of E. coli O157:H7 may be influenced in livestock consuming endophyte-infected tall fescue, and these alterations could be due to the presence of ergot alkaloids in fescue plants.
authors.affiliation: Dale Bumpers Small Farms Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Booneville, Arkansas 72927, USA. mike.looper@ars.usda.gov
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Looper
authors.forename: T S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Edrington
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Moubarak
authors.forename: T R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Callaway
authors.forename: C F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Rosenkrans
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D004087:Dihydroergotamine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004874:Ergonovine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004878:Ergotamine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary; D019453:Escherichia coli O157 / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development; D031751:Festuca / Q000382:microbiology; D005516:Food Microbiology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012417:Rumen / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D004087:Dihydroergotamine; D004878:Ergotamine; D004874:Ergonovine