Arterial Responses in Periparturient Beef Cows Following a 9-Week Exposure to Ergot (Claviceps purpurea) in Feed.

ABSTRACT: Ergot alkaloids are vasoconstrictors frequently detected in low concentrations in livestock feed. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency permits up to 3,000 μg ergot alkaloids per kg cattle feed. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of feeding low concentrations of ergot alkaloids over 9-weeks on vascular dynamics in the caudal and internal iliac arteries of beef cows. A relationship between ergot alkaloid concentration in feed and hemodynamic changes in the caudal and internal iliac arteries was hypothesized. Periparturient beef cows were randomized into four groups and group fed mixed rations containing <15 μg ergot alkaloids per kg of dry matter intake (Control, n = 9), 48 μg/kg (Low, n = 9), 201 μg/kg (Medium, n = 8), and 822 μg/kg (High, n =

SUBMITTER: Cowan V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6694205 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature