Veterinary and human toxicology
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Twenty horses died 30 d after being fed a diet containing 40% of tritured Crotalaria juncea seeds. Before death, they had staggering, dyspnea and fever. At necropsy the most evident lesions were areas of lung parenchyma consolidation and enlarged and congested livers. ⋯ After 4 mo of feeding the animals died with dyspnea. Their lungs had diffuse fibrosing alveolitis with discrete formation of hyaline membranes and the livers were congested. Reproduction of the lesions implicated the plant and supported the diagnosis of C juncea intoxication in the horses.
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Both "chuanwu", the main root of Aconitum carmichaeli, and "caowu", the root of A kusnezoffii, are believed to possess anti-inflammatory, analgesic and cardiotonic effects and have been used in Chinese materia medica mainly for the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders. They contain the highly toxic C19 diterpenoid alkaloids of aconitine, mesaconitine and hypaconitine. After ingestion, patients may present with signs and symptoms that are typical of aconitine poisoning. ⋯ Management of aconitine poisoning is essentially supportive. There are no adequate studies in humans to indicate the most effective treatment of the ventricular arrhythmias. All clinicians should be alerted to the potential toxicity of "chuanwu" and "caowu".