Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Overview of Cyanide Poisoning in Cattle from Sorghum halepense and S. bicolor Cultivars in North-West Italy

Stefano Giantin
,
Alberico Franzin
ORCID logo ,
Fulvio Brușa
,
Vittoria Montemurro
,
Elena Bozzetta
ORCID logo ,
Elisabetta Caprai
ORCID logo ,
Giorgio Fedrizzi
,
Flavia Girolami
ORCID logo ,
Carlo Nebbia
* ORCID logo
Version 1 : Received: 5 February 2024 / Approved: 6 February 2024 / Online: 6 February 2024 (09:19:48 CET)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Giantin, S.; Franzin, A.; Brusa, F.; Montemurro, V.; Bozzetta, E.; Caprai, E.; Fedrizzi, G.; Girolami, F.; Nebbia, C. Overview of Cyanide Poisoning in Cattle from Sorghum halepense and S. bicolor Cultivars in Northwest Italy. Animals 2024, 14, 743. Giantin, S.; Franzin, A.; Brusa, F.; Montemurro, V.; Bozzetta, E.; Caprai, E.; Fedrizzi, G.; Girolami, F.; Nebbia, C. Overview of Cyanide Poisoning in Cattle from Sorghum halepense and S. bicolor Cultivars in Northwest Italy. Animals 2024, 14, 743.

Abstract

Sorghum plants naturally produce dhurrin, a cyanogenic glycoside which may be hydrolysed to cyanide resulting in often lethal toxicoses. Ruminants are particularly sensitive to cyanogenic glycosides due to the active role of rumen microbiota in dhurrin hydrolysis. This work provides an overview of a poisoning outbreak occurred in 5 farms from North-West Italy in August 2022; a total of 66 cows died, and many others developed an acute toxicosis after being fed on either cultivated- (Sorghum bicolor) or wild Sorghum (Sorghum halepense). Clinical signs were recorded, and all cows received an antidotal/supportive therapy. Dead animals were subjected to necropsy and dhurrin content was determined in Sorghum specimens by a LC-MS/MS method. Rapid onset, severe respiratory distress, recumbency and convulsions were the main clinical features; bright red blood, bitter almond smell and lung emphysema were consistently observed at necropsy. The combined i.v. and oral administration of sodium thiosulphate resulted in a rapid improvement of clinical signs. Dhurrin concentrations corresponding to cyanide levels higher than the tolerated threshold of 200 mg/kg were detected in sorghum specimens from 4 out 5 involved farms; thereafter, such levels declined reaching tolerable concentrations in September-October. Feeding cattle with wild or cultivated Sorghum green fodder is a common practice in Northern Italy, especially in summer. However, care should be taken in case of adverse climatic conditions, such as severe drought and tropical temperatures (characterising summer 2022), which are reported to increase dhurrin synthesis and storage.

Keywords

Sorghum bicolor; Sorghum halepense; dhurrin; cyanide poisoning; cattle; drought

Subject

Medicine and Pharmacology, Veterinary Medicine

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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