THE BENEFICIAL EFFECT OF THIAMINE IN CISTUS SALVIIFOLIUS NEUROTOXICITY CONTROL IN SHEEP.

Moroccan sheep is permanently exposed to an abundance of endemic toxic plants among which peculiarly Cistussalviifolius (also known as rockrose). The ingestion in excess of this plant by sheep is usually associated with nervous signs including episodic convulsions, opisthotonos, nystagmus, and paddling movements. To our best knowledge, no specific treatment of thisshrub poisoning is not yet described. Thus, the objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of sulbutiamine, a thiamine derivative known for its beneficial actions in numerous neurological disorders, in rockrose neurotoxicity. For this purpose, 53 affected adult sheep including 50 ewes and 3 rams were subjected to sulbutiamine treatment. Furthermore, in the attempt to highlight a possible thiamine deficiency involvement in the studied disorder, additional tests were performed on 10 other affected animals and rockrose samples. The use of sulbutiamineat a dosage rate of approximately 30 to 60 mg/kg BW orally during 4 to 7 consecutive days or 5 to 15 mg/kg BW as single IM injections allowed clinical recovery of 82 % and 100% of treated animals respectively. MRI and histological examination, performed on three non-treated animals,revealed in one sheep a unilaterally hyperintensity and a granular-vacuolar degeneration of certain neurons in the regionof the pons respectively. Levels ofcondensed tannins, sulfites and sulfates in C.salviifolius were the highest during the autumn, from November to January and during February and March respectively. The present investigation has elucidated the beneficial effect of sulbutiamine in C.salviifolius poisoning in sheep and suggests a thiamine deficiency involvement in the observed symptoms.