James L F
USDA-ARS Poisonous Plant Research Laboratory, Logan, UT 84341, USA.
J Nat Toxins. 1999 Feb;8(1):63-80.
Research on teratogenic plants started at the USDA-Agricultural Research Service-Poisonous Plant Research Laboratory in the mid 1950s when Dr. Wayne Binns, Director of the laboratory, was asked to investigate the cause of a cyclopian facial/skeletal birth defect in lambs. Dr. Lynn F. James joined the staff shortly after. These two people worked as a team wherein most planning was done jointly with Binns supervising most of the laboratory work and James the field studies. It was determined that when pregnant ewes grazed Veratrum californicum on day 14 of gestation a significant number of lambs had the cyclopic defect. Skeletal and cleft palate birth defects in calves was associated with pregnant cows grazing certain lupine species during 40-70 days of gestation. Shortly thereafter research work was initiated on locoweed which caused abortions, wasting, right heart failure, skeletal birth defects, and fetal right heart failure. Dr. Richard F. Keeler, a chemist who joined the staff in the early 1960s, isolated and characterized the teratogens in V. californicum as the steroidal alkaloids cyclopamine, jervine, and cycloposine. He also described the teratogen in lupines as the quinolizidine alkaloid anagyrine and the piperidine alkaloid ammodendrine. Drs. Russell Molyneux and James identified the toxin in locoweed as the indolizidine alkaloid swainsonine. In 1974 the editor of Nutrition Today (Vols. 9 and 4) wrote "The idea that birth defects occurring in humans may be in some way related to diet is not widely held ..." Dr. Lynn James pointed out in this issue that such defects in animals can be produced with absolute predictability and regularity by foods ordinarily beneficial to livestock. Management strategies have been developed to prevent or minimize the economic impact of the cyclopian lamb and the crooked calf condition on livestock producers and well on the way to doing the same with locoweed. It is of interest to note that livestock research on Veratrum, lupines and locoweed and toxins therefrom are now significant research tools for specific human health problems.
致畸植物的研究始于20世纪50年代中期美国农业部农业研究局的有毒植物研究实验室，当时该实验室主任韦恩·宾斯博士受命调查羊羔独眼面部/骨骼出生缺陷的成因。林恩·F·詹姆斯博士不久后加入了该团队。这两人组成了一个团队，大部分规划工作是共同完成的，宾斯负责监督大部分实验室工作，詹姆斯负责实地研究。研究发现，怀孕母羊在妊娠第14天食用加州藜芦时，大量羊羔出现独眼缺陷。小牛的骨骼和腭裂出生缺陷与怀孕母牛在妊娠40至70天期间食用某些羽扇豆属植物有关。此后不久，对疯草的研究工作开始了，疯草会导致流产、消瘦、右心衰竭、骨骼出生缺陷和胎儿右心衰竭。20世纪60年代初加入该团队的化学家理查德·F·基勒博士分离并鉴定出加州藜芦中的致畸剂为甾体生物碱环杷明、介芬胺和环窝定。他还将羽扇豆中的致畸剂描述为喹诺里西啶生物碱野百合碱和哌啶生物碱氨豆碱。拉塞尔·莫利纽克斯博士和詹姆斯博士确定疯草中的毒素为吲哚里西啶生物碱苦马豆素。1974年，《今日营养》（第9卷和第4卷）的编辑写道：“人类出生缺陷可能在某种程度上与饮食有关的观点并未得到广泛认可……”林恩·詹姆斯博士在本期中指出，动物身上的此类缺陷可以由通常对家畜有益的食物以绝对可预测和规律的方式产生。已经制定了管理策略，以预防或尽量减少独眼羊羔和弯腿小牛状况对家畜生产者的经济影响，并且在对疯草采取同样措施方面也已取得很大进展。值得注意的是，目前针对藜芦、羽扇豆和疯草及其毒素的家畜研究是解决特定人类健康问题的重要研究工具。
