title: Cerebellar ataxia suspected to be caused by Oxytropis glabra poisoning in western Mongolian goats.
abstract: In the last five years in western Mongolia, a neurological disorder and resultant economic loss have developed in goats, sheep, cattle and horses: association of the disease with ingestion of Oxytropis glabra, a toxic plant, was suggested. Affected goats showed neurological signs, including ataxia, incoordination, hind limb paresis, fine head tremor and nystagmus. Three goats, one with moderate clinical signs and the other two with severe clinical signs, were necropsied and examined to describe and characterize the histologic, immunohistochemical and ultrastructural lesions. Although no gross pathological changes were observed in a variety of organs including the central nervous system of these goats, microscopic examination of the cerebellum demonstrated degenerative changes in all these goats, such as vacuolar changes and loss of Purkinje cells, torpedo formation in the granular layer, increased number of spheroids in the cerebellar medulla, and loss of axons and myelin sheaths of Purkinje cells. The chemical analysis of the dried plant detected 0.02-0.05% (dry weight basis) of swainsonine. This is the first report describing the clinical and pathological findings in Mongolian goats suspected to be affected by O. glabra poisoning.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Pathology, Tottori University, Tottori 680-8553, Japan.
authors.forename: Shuji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Akinori
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shimada
authors.forename: Takehito
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Morita
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ishihara
authors.forename: Altanchimeg
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Adilbish
authors.forename: Bayarmunkh
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Delgermaa
authors.forename: Oyuntsetseg
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gungaa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002524:Cerebellar Ataxia / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D015511:Goat Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000473:pathology*; D006041:Goats; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000662:veterinary; D008297:Male; D008986:Mongolia; D033021:Oxytropis / Q000737:chemistry*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000633:toxicity*; D017026:Swainsonine / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D010936:Plant Extracts; D017026:Swainsonine