Acute toxicity of sterigmatocystin to chicks

Four experiments were carried out with 10 to 12 day old leghorn chicks weighing approximately 93 to 101 g. The chicks were injected intraperitoneally with sterigmatocystin (STG) dissolved in olive oil. The LD50 values as established in the first two experiments were 10.0 and 14.0 mg/kg body weight with most of the deaths occurring between 9 and 21 h following injection. Histopathological studies demonstrated that there was hemorrhage, foci of degeneration and necrosis with fibroblastic proliferation in sinusoids of the liver while the kidneys showed tubular degeneration and necrosis. Biochemical analysis of blood sera demonstrated that STG caused a marked elevation in the activities of lactate dehydrogenase, aspartate aminotransferase, and alanine aminotransferase, and a depression of creatine kinase, but no effects on gamma-glutamyl transferase, amylase and lipase. Free and conjugated bilirubin were elevated in the sera while total protein, albumin, glucose, potassium, chloride and phosphorous concentrations were depressed. In addition, total white blood cells and circulating agranulocytes were depressed while circulating granulocytes were elevated. STG did not significantly affect the concentration of uric acid, cholesterol, triglycerides, calcium, magnesium and sodium in blood.