Summary
Much of the research on fescue toxicosis has concentrated on evaluating animal response to grazing endophyte-infected (E+) versus endophyte-free tall fescue or the effects of single toxins such as ergonovine (EN), ergovaline (EV), or ergotamine (ET) on animal performance. Such approaches have eliminated the opportunity to test the possible additive, synergistic, or antagonistic interactions of one or more ergot alkaloids with the other ergot alkaloids found in E+ tall fescue. This study was conducted to determine the effects of simultaneous exposure of pairs of EN, EV, and ET on the kidney adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) system in vitro. Tests were performed using three separate rat kidney homogenates and were repeated four times at concentrations of 0, 75, and 200 μM. Individually, EN, EV, and ET induced dose-dependent inhibitions of kidney Na+/K+ ATPase, with EN being most potent, followed by purified EV, and then by ET. The ergot alkaloids inhibited Mg2+ ATPase to a lesser degree than Na+/K+ ATPase, with EN again being the most potent toxin. Simultaneous exposure to any combination of the ergot alkaloid pairs tested (EV+ET, EV+EN, and ET+EN) resulted in significant interactions (P<0.05), indicating antagonistic effects on the inhibition of Na+/K+ ATPase and Mg2+ ATPase for most concentration combinations. These interactions suggest that in studies of the effects of any ergot alkaloid on animal performance, effects of other ergot alkaloids may also be present. Effects may not be additive, as was the case in this study, and the presence of one toxin may enhance or hinder the effectiveness of others.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bacon, C. W.; Porter, J. K.; Robbins, J. D.; Luttrell, E. S. Epichloe typhina from toxic tall fescue grasses. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 34:526–581; 1977.
Cornell, C. N.; Lueker, J. V.; Garner, G. B.; Ellis, J. L. Establishing ergovaline levels for fescue toxicosis, with and without endoparasites, under controlled climatic conditions. New Orleans, LA: International Symposium On Acremonium/Grass Interactions; 1990: 75–79.
Davydov, L.; Yermolnik, M.; Cuni, L. J. Warfarin and amoxicillin/clavulanste drug interaction. Ann. Pharmacother. 37(3):367–370; 2003.
Egger, S. S.; Drewe, J.; Schlienger, R. G. Potential drug-drug interactions in the medication of medical patients at hospital discharge. Eur. J. Clin. Pharmacol. 58(11):773–778; 2003.
Forbush, B. Assay of Na+/K+-ATPase in plasma membrane preparation; Increasing the permeability of membrane vesicles using sodium dodecyl sulfate buffered with bovine serum albumin. Anal. Biochem. 128:159–163; 1983.
Gadberry, M. S.; Denard, T. M.; Spiers, D. E.; Piper, E. L. Effects of feeding ergovaline on lamb performance in a heat stress environment. J. Anim. Sci. 81(6):1538–1545; 2003.
Jain, N. K.; Patil, C. S.; Singh, A.; Kulkarni, S. K. Sildenafil, a phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor, enhances the antinociceptive effect of morphine. Pharmacology 67(3):150–156; 2003.
Jones, D. H.; Matus, A. I. Isolation of synaptic plasma membrane from brain by combined flotation-sedimentation density gradient centrifugation. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 356:276–287; 1974.
Liaudet, L.; Buclin, T.; Jaccard, C.; Eckert, P. Severe ergotism associated with interaction between ritonavir and ergotamine. Br. Med. J. (international ed.). 318:771–772; 1999.
Lowry, O. H.; Rosebrough, N. J.; Farr, A. L.; Randall, R. J. Protein measurements with folin phenol reagent. J. Biol. Chem. 193:265–275; 1951.
Lyons, P. C.; Plattner, R. D.; Bacon, C. W. Occurrence of peptide and clavine ergot alkaloids in tall fescue grass. Science 232:487–489; 1986.
Morgan-Jones, G.; Gams, W. Notes on hyphomycetes, XLI. An endophyte of Festuca arundinacea and the anamorph of Epichloe typhina a new taxa in one of two sections of Acremonium. Mycotaxon 15:311–318; 1982.
Moubarak, A. S.; Piper, E. L.; West, C. P., Interaction of ergot alkaloids with the synaptosomal ATPase system. Med. Sci. Res. 18:709–710; 1990.
Moubarak, A. S.; Piper, E. L.; West, C. P., Effects of ergotamine and ergonovine on the renal ATPase system in the rat. Med. Sci. Res. 21:289–290; 1993a.
Moubarak, A. S.; Piper, E. L.; West, C. P.; Johnson, Z. B., Interaction of purified ergovaline from endophyte-infected tall fescue with synaptosomal ATPase system. J. Agric. Food Chem. 41:407–409; 1993b.
Moubarak, A. S.; Rosenkrans, C. F., Jr.; Johnson, Z. B. Effects of ergotamine and ergonovine on the bovine liver mitochondrial ATPase system. Med. Sci. Res. 21:699–701; 1998.
Rice, R. L.; Schurig, G. G.; Blodgett, D. J. Evaluation of physiologic indices in mice vaccinated with protein-ergotamine conjugates and fed an endophyte-infected fescue diet. Am. J. Vet. Res. 59(10):1258–1262; 1998.
SAS/STAT. Guide for personal computers. Version 6 Ed. Cary, NC: SAS Institute Inc.; 1985.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Moubarak, A.S., Johnson, Z.B. & Rosenkrans, C.F. Antagonistic effects of simultaneous exposure of ergot alkaloids on kidney adenosine triphosphatase system. In Vitro Cell.Dev.Biol.-Animal 39, 395–398 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1290/1543-706X(2003)039<0395:AEOSEO>2.0.CO;2
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1290/1543-706X(2003)039<0395:AEOSEO>2.0.CO;2