Toxicology of Astragalus lusitanicus Lam.

Astragalus lusitanicus is a toxic legume grown in Morocco and in some other Mediterranean countries. In small ruminants, poisoning by this plant is dominated by nervous signs characterized by many cycles of excitement-depression. Macroscopic examination of poisoned animals showed congestive lesions and oedema in the brain and lungs. Microscopic lesions consisted mainly of vacuolar degeneration in neurons, hepatocytes and in spleen and kidney cells. Serum activity of AST and CK as well as blood glucose and urea were increased as a result of poisoning. However, serum activity of alpha-mannosidase was not modified as is the case in locoism. Chemical investigations showed that A. lusitanicus does not contain swainsonine or miserotoxin and its selenium concentration is very low. However, this legume contains indolizidin alkaloids and a first compound was purified and identified.