Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 21, 2026
Development of a Colloidal Gold-based Immunochromatographic Test Strip for Detection of Cetacean Myoglobin
Published on: July 13, 2016
Development of a method for determination of cyanide concentrations in serum and rumen fluid of cattle
H Meiser1, H W Hagedorn, R Schulz
1Institute of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmacy, University of Munich, Germany.
Objectives:
To develop a reliable method for measurement of cyanide concentrations in cattle, using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and establish reference ranges of cyanide concentrations in cattle.
Animals:
52 Fleckvieh cattle.
Procedure:
Cattle were allocated to 3 groups; 12 were fed leguminous grass and hay, 36 were fed whole-maize and corn-cob silages, and 4 were fed other feedstuffs. Samples of blood, rumen fluid, and liver were collected at time of slaughter. Serum, rumen fluid, and liver homogenate were assayed for cyanide content, using a derivatization procedure. A technique for analysis by GC-MS that used selected ion monitoring was developed.
Results:
Compared with a spectrophotometric method, detection of cyanide in serum and rumen fluid by use of GC-MS was selective and sensitive, with a limit of detection of 0.7 microM. Spectrophotometric analysis yielded false-negative and false-positive results. Thus, the GC-MS method was used for subsequent analysis. In all cattle except 1, cyanide concentration ranged from < 0.7 to 35 microM in serum and from < 0.7 to 28 microM in rumen fluid; cyanide concentration in that 1 animal was 206 microM. Cattle fed clover, grass, grass hay, and clover hay had 8.3- to 8.6-fold higher mean cyanide concentrations in rumen fluid and serum than cattle fed whole-maize and corn-cob silages.
Conclusions And Clinical Relevance:
Results of this study suggest a reference range that should be useful for aiding in the diagnosis of cyanide poisoning. Also, cattle can apparently accommodate a serum cyanide concentration of 206 microM without adverse effects.
