Zoo Duisburg AG, Department of Zoo Veterinary Medicine, Duisburg, Germany.
Institute of Animal Nutrition, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
J Anim Sci. 2018 Jul 28;96(8):3537-3547. doi: 10.1093/jas/sky200.
From 2004 until 2016, 21 Père David's deer (Elaphurus davidianus) have died for unknown reason at Zoo Duisburg. These deer, also known as milu, have succumbed from a myopathy that occurred seasonally in autumn and in spring. The clinical signs shown by the animals closely resembles those of a disease called equine atypical myopathy (EAM), which is formerly known in horses. The cause for EAM in Europe was found in the ingestion of hypoglycin A, contained in samaras and seedlings of the sycamore maple tree (Acer pseudoplatanus). To test the hypothesis that the mortality of milus was caused by ingestion of hypoglycin A, 79 sera from all zoos and wildlife parks that have kept milus in Germany and Austria, including 19 diseased and 60 healthy animals, were used. Selected biochemical values and additionally hypoglycin A, methylenecyclopropyl acetic acid-carnitine (MCPA-carnitine), and acylcarnitines, which have been found in horses suffering from EAM, were determined. The results showed greater values of serum activities of creatine kinase (P < 0.001) and aspartate aminotransferase (P < 0.001) in diseased milus comparing to healthy ones confirming a myopathy in affected animals. Moreover, hypoglycin A and MCPA-carnitine were found in the blood of Père David's deer and thus, hypoglycin A intoxication was considered to be a potential cause for the myopathies by ingestion of sycamore maple samaras that were present in the enclosure of the affected animals. Hypoglycin A values were greater in diseased animals (P < 0.01) as well as MCPA-carnitine levels (P < 0.05). Additionally, affected milus showed greater C5-OH-carnitine (P < 0.01) and C6-carnitine (P < 0.001) values. Until now hypoglycin A intoxication was only known in the family of Equidae, in humans, and in laboratory rats, and it has not been previously described in other zoological families. Comparing to horses, ruminants do have a different digestive tract and it will need further investigation to find out if several factors are involved to trigger an outbreak in ruminants.
从 2004 年到 2016 年，21 头麋鹿（Elaphurus davidianus）在杜伊斯堡动物园因不明原因死亡。这些鹿也被称为四不像，它们死于一种季节性的秋季和春季多发性肌病。动物表现出的临床症状与一种称为马非典型肌病（EAM）的疾病非常相似，这种疾病以前在马中被发现。欧洲 EAM 的病因是摄入了存在于七叶树果实和幼苗中的低血糖素 A。为了验证麋鹿的死亡是由于摄入了低血糖素 A，我们检测了德国和奥地利所有饲养麋鹿的动物园和野生动物公园的 79 份血清，包括 19 份患病和 60 份健康动物的血清。选择了一些生化值，以及在患有 EAM 的马中发现的甲基乙烯基环丙基乙酸-肉碱（MCPA-肉碱）和酰基肉碱进行检测。结果显示，患病麋鹿的血清肌酸激酶（P < 0.001）和天冬氨酸氨基转移酶（P < 0.001）活性值高于健康麋鹿，这证实了患病动物的肌病。此外，在麋鹿的血液中发现了低血糖素 A 和 MCPA-肉碱，因此，低血糖素 A 中毒被认为是由于食用了存在于患病动物围栏中的七叶树果实而导致多发性肌病的潜在原因。患病动物的低血糖素 A 值更高（P < 0.01），MCPA-肉碱水平也更高（P < 0.05）。此外，患病的麋鹿的 C5-OH-肉碱（P < 0.01）和 C6-肉碱（P < 0.001）值也更高。到目前为止，低血糖素 A 中毒仅在马科动物、人类和实验室大鼠中被发现，在其他动物科中尚未有过描述。与马相比，反刍动物的消化道不同，因此需要进一步研究，以确定是否有几个因素参与引发反刍动物的爆发。
