Experimentally induced Cassia roemeriana poisoning in cattle and goats

The dried, ground aerial portions of the plant Cassia roemeriana were administered to each of seven calves at a dosage of 10 g/kg of body weight/day for 2 to 10.5 days and to each of six goats at a dosage of 10 g/kg/day for 5 days or 5 or 7 g/kg/day for 23 to 25 days. Experimentally induced C roemeriana poisoning in both species resulted in hepatopathic poisoning characterized by a brief survival period (3.9 to 7.9 days), moderate-to-severe hepatocellular damage, and little or no evidence of injury to skeletal muscle or resulted in myopathic poisoning characterized by a longer period of survival, mild-to-severe skeletal myopathy, and mild hepatocellular injury. The minimal dosage that induced hepatopathic poisoning (also the minimal lethal dosage) was 10 g/kg/day for 3 days in calves and for 5 days in goats. The minimal dosage that induced the myopathic syndrome (as determined by the earliest increase in serum creatine kinase activity) was 10 g/kg/day for 6 days for calves and 5 g/kg/day for 10 to 16 days for goats.