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Detection of the Toxin Hypoglycin A in Pastured Horses and in the European Sycamore Maple Tree ( A cer Pseudoplatanus ) During Two Outbreaks of Atypical Myopathy in S weden
Author(s) -
Gröndahl G.,
Berglund A.,
Skidell J.,
Bondesson U.,
Salomonsson M.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
equine veterinary journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.82
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 2042-3306
pISSN - 0425-1644
DOI - 10.1111/evj.12486_49
Subject(s) - acer pseudoplatanus , myopathy , horse , grazing , chemistry , biology , botany , medicine , paleontology
Reasons for performing study Hypoglycin A ( HG ) appears to cause atypical myopathy ( AM ), but to our knowledge, detection of HG in affected and unaffected horses and concurrently in plants that they were exposed to has not previously been reported. Objectives To investigate HG in samples from horses exposed to A cer pseudoplatanus (European sycamore maple) and in such plant material, at the time of clinical cases of AM in the herd. Study design Cross‐sectional study. Methods Blood was collected from 2 horses with AM and 22 clinically healthy co‐grazing horses in 2 Swedish farms within one week of onset of signs ( M ay 2014) and one month later, after horses were moved to other pastures. Ten healthy control horses from unaffected farms were sampled once. Samaras, seedlings, flowers and leaves from A cer pseudoplatanus and from A cer platanoides L ( N orway maple) were collected from affected pastures. Hypoglycin A was analysed using chemical derivatisation with dansyl chloride ( DNS ) and ultra high performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. Hypoglycin A was detected as derivatised compound HG‐DNS [M+ H ]+ with selected reaction monitoring. Results Hypoglycin A was detected in the horses affected with AM , and also in 20 out of 22 co‐grazing horses. One month later, a surviving case horse and 9/20 co‐grazing horses were still positive for HG . Controls from other farms were negative for HG . Hypoglycin A was detected in plant material from A cer pseudoplatanus , but not from A cer platanoides L . Conclusions Horses grazing in pastures with HG ‐containing A cer pseudoplatanus were positive for HG in blood, and some showed severe signs of myopathy. Ethical animal research: Ethical consent for blood sampling was granted (C113/11) and horse owners gave their informed consent to inclusion of horses in the study. Source of funding: National Veterinary Institute, S weden. Competing interests: None declared.