Junceine

Pulmonary and hepatic lesions caused by the dehydropyrrolizidine alkaloid-producing plants Crotalaria juncea and Crotalaria retusa in donkeys.[Pubmed:23726858]

Toxicon. 2013 Sep;71:113-20.

The effects and susceptibility of donkeys to Crotalaria juncea and Crotalaria retusa poisoning were determined at high and low doses. Seeds of C. juncea containing 0.074% of dehydropyrrolizidine alkaloids (DHPAs) (isohemiJunceines 0.05%, trichodesmine 0.016%, and Junceine 0.008%) were administered to three donkeys at 0.3, 0.6 and 1 g/kg body weight (g/kg) daily for 365 days. No clinical signs were observed and, on liver and lung biopsies, the only lesion was a mild liver megalocytosis in the donkeys ingesting 0.6 and 1 g/kg/day. Two other donkeys that received daily doses of 3 and 5 g seed/kg showed initial respiratory signs 70 and 40 days after the start of the administration, respectively. The donkeys were euthanized following severe respiratory signs and the main lung lesions were proliferation of Clara cells and interstitial fibrosis. Three donkeys ingested seeds of C. retusa containing 5.99% of monocrotaline at daily doses of 0.025, 0.05 and 0.1 g/kg for 365 days. No clinical signs were observed and, on liver and lung biopsies, the only lesion was moderate liver megalocytosis in each of the three donkeys. One donkey that received a single dose of 5 g/kg of C. retusa seeds and another that received 1 g/kg daily for 7 days both showed severe clinical signs and died with diffuse centrilobular liver necrosis. No lung lesions were observed. Another donkey that received a single dose of 2.5 g/kg of C. retusa seeds showed no clinical signs. The hepatic and pneumotoxic effects observed are consistent with an etiology involving DHPAs. Furthermore, the occurrence of lung or liver lesions correlates with the type of DHPAs contained in the seeds. Similarly as has been reported for horses, the data herein suggest that in donkeys some DHPAs are metabolized in the liver causing liver disease, whereas others are metabolized in the lung by Clara cells causing lung disease.

Dehydropyrrolizidine alkaloids, including monoesters with an unusual esterifying acid, from cultivated Crotalaria juncea (Sunn Hemp cv.'Tropic Sun').[Pubmed:22429238]

J Agric Food Chem. 2012 Apr 11;60(14):3541-50.

Cultivation of Crotalaria juncea L. (Sunn Hemp cv. 'Tropic Sun') is recommended as a green manure crop in a rotation cycle to improve soil condition, help control erosion, suppress weeds, and reduce soil nematodes. Because C. juncea belongs to a genus that is known for the production of toxic dehydropyrrolizidine alkaloids, extracts of the roots, stems, leaves, and seeds of 'Tropic Sun' were analyzed for their presence using HPLC-ESI/MS. Qualitative analysis identified previously unknown alkaloids as major components along with the expected macrocyclic dehydropyrrolizidine alkaloid diesters, Junceine and trichodesmine. The dehydropyrrolizidine alkaloids occurred mainly as the N-oxides in the roots, stems, and, to a lesser extent, leaves, but mainly as the free bases in the seeds. Comprehensive spectrometric and spectroscopic analysis enabled elucidation of the unknown alkaloids as diastereoisomers of isohemiJunceine, a monoester of retronecine with an unusual necic acid. The dehydropyrrolizidine alkaloid contents of the roots, stems, and leaves of immature plants were estimated to be 0.05, 0.12, and 0.01% w/w, respectively, whereas seeds were estimated to contain 0.15% w/w.

Variability for the presence of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in Crotolaria juncea L.[Pubmed:16124407]

Pharmazie. 2005 Aug;60(8):620-2.

Sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea L.) is the most widely grown legume used as green manure in the tropics where it is also grown as a fiber and animal fodder crop. It has been reported that sunn hemp seeds contain several pyrrolizidine alkaloids that when ingested in sufficient amount can be toxic to animals and birds. No information is available regarding variability for the presences of the different types of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in the seeds. The objective of this research was to analyze sunn hemp seeds of nine populations that originated in different parts of the world for several pyrrolizidine alkaloids to determine their level of variability for the presence of these compounds and to quantify the total amount of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in the seeds. Of the nine pyrrolizidine alkaloids tested, the sunn hemp populations only had Junceine and trichodesmine. PI 207657 had very low levels of both alkaloids and PI 314239, PI 322377, PI 346297, and the US cultivar Tropic Sun had very low levels of trichodesmine. Although juncein was present in higher amounts than trichodesmine in the seeds of most accessions, its value was deemed to be small. The amount of pyrrolizidine alkaloids present in the sunn hemp populations studied was low.