lysergamide and Plant-Poisoning

Treatment of bovine lateral saphenous vein (cranial branch) and dorsal metatarsal artery with lysergamide (lysergic acid amide), an alkaloid in abundance in tall fescue, resulted in vasoconstriction similar to that previously shown for the ergot alkaloids ergonovine and ergotamine. Preincubation of tissues with lysergamide resulted in partial inhibition of the contractile response induced by the selective adrenergic agents phenylephrine and BHT-920 (P < .05), indicating partial agonist or antagonist activity of lysergamide at these receptors. Bovine vessels were strongly contracted by serotonin, and the response was markedly inhibited (P < .01) when tissues were preincubated with lysergamide. Studies with selective serotonergic agents indicated that lysergamide may have predilection for serotonin-2 receptors (5-HT2). Thus, lysergamide by itself has vasoconstrictor activity and acts as a partial agonist or antagonist at adrenergic and serotonergic receptors. Further studies are needed to establish the exact receptor effects of lysergamide. However, it is evident that this important alkaloid found in tall fescue infested with the endophytic fungus Acremonium coenophialum should be given consideration in studies designed to alleviate the fescue toxicosis syndrome in cattle.

Topics: Adrenergic alpha-Agonists; Animals; Arteries; Azepines; Cattle; Cattle Diseases; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; In Vitro Techniques; Lysergic Acid Diethylamide; Metatarsus; Muscle Contraction; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular; Phenylephrine; Plant Poisoning; Poaceae; Saphenous Vein; Serotonin; Vasoconstriction

Stipa robusta (= Stipa vaseyi) is a perennial grass found in certain areas of the southwestern United States. It is commonly known as sleepygrass, as horses that ingest this grass may become profoundly somnolent or stuporous for periods of time lasting up to several days. In an attempt to determine the active principle(s), fractionation of a methanolic extract of sleepygrass infected with an Acremonium endophyte has yielded lysergic acid amide (20 micrograms/g dry wt), isolysergic amide (8), 8-hydroxylsergic acid amide (0.3), ergonovine (7), chanoclavine-I (15), and N-formylloline (18). Related alkaloids have been found in many endophyte-infected grasses. The dominant alkaloid constituent in sleepygrass, lysergic acid amide, has not previously been identified in a grass in such high concentration. Lysergic acid amide is likely to be the basis for the extreme sedative effects on animals, given past pharmacological work on the compound from the ergot fungus Claviceps paspali.

Topics: Acremonium; Alkaloids; Animals; Horse Diseases; Horses; Hypnotics and Sedatives; Lysergic Acid Diethylamide; Mycotoxins; Plant Poisoning; Poaceae; Symbiosis