Metabolism of saponins from Narthecium ossifragum--a plant implicated in the aetiology of alveld, a hepatogenous photosensitization of sheep.

One sheep was dosed over 4 consecutive days with 2.1 kg of leaves and flower stems of Narthecium ossifragum before it was killed. Sarsasapogenin and smilagenin glycosides, in the ratio 9:1, were the dominant saponins present in the dosed plant material. GC-MS analyses of the free and conjugated sapogenin content of samples recovered from the sheep identified three distinct regions of metabolic activity. In the first metabolic region, in the rumen and omasum, the ingested plant saponins were hydrolysed to the parent sapogenins, before being oxidized at C-3 and reduced to give the epi analogues of the ingested sapogenins. The second metabolic region consisted of the duodenum, jejunum, the liver and associated ducts. Sapogenins appear to be absorbed in the jejunum and may be transported via the portal vein to the liver, where 3 alpha-OH-5 beta-H sapogenins (epismilagenin and episarsasapogenin), but not 3 beta-OH-5 alpha-H sapogenins (smilagenin and sarsasapogenin), are conjugated and excreted into the bile as episarsasapogenin and epismilagenin conjugates in the ratio 4:1. In the third metabolic region, in the caecum and the colon, the epi-sapogenin conjugates were hydrolysed to free epi-sapogenins. The absence of free and/or conjugated sapogenins in urine, collected 24 h after dosing commenced, indicates that saponins and their metabolites are not likely to be implicated in the kidney disease occurring in ruminants ingesting N. ossifragum.