Changes induced in newborn piglets by the trichothecene toxin T-2

Three pregnant sows, being in the last quarter of gestation, were used in an experiment to study the changes induced in newborn piglets by T-2 toxin. One sow was used as control (C). The other two received 24 mg (sow A) and 6 mg (sow B) T-2 toxin, respectively, mixed in the feed, daily, up to the time of farrowing. The piglets of sow A became ill by 48-72 h after birth, while the litters of sow B and C remained healthy. The clinical symptoms included faintness, diarrhoea, decreased blood glucose level, and collapse followed by death. The milk and urine of sow A and the stomach contents of affected and dead piglets contained T-2 toxin and its metabolites. Pathological changes seen at necropsy included acute enteritis, degeneration of the liver and kidneys, and oedema of the mesentery. The stomach was filled with clotted milk. Histopathological and electron-microscopic findings consisted of reduced glycogen content and pathological simple fatty infiltration of the liver cells, lymphocyte depletion and necrosis in the lymphoid follicles of the intestinal mucosa, atrophy of the thymic cortex, and hyperfunction of the adrenal and thyroid glands compared to the control.