Bromosulphophthalein clearance rates in sheep with pyrrolizidine liver damage

Sheep fed a ration containing 50% of dried Heliotropium europaeum showed a marked decline in bromosulphophthalein (BSP) fractional clearance rate during the first 3 months feeding. Thereafter, the response of individual animals varied widely on a time basis, although 3 groups could be identified. In the terminal stages, mean clearance rates were below 20% of initial values, with some sheep showing a decline in excess of 90%. Loss of liver functional capacity was generally much greater than indicated by the degree of damage revealed by histopathology. Thus, a suitably modified test could have considerable prognostic value in the field. In this investigation, all sheep with clearance rates below 0.15 died when exposed to a further period of H. europaeum feeding.