Experimentally Induced Cholangiohepatopathy by Dosing Sheep with Fractionated Extracts from Brachiaria Decumbens

Abstract

Cholangiohepatopathy was induced in 5 lambs by oral administration of extracts from signal grass ( Brachiaria decumbens) in Brazil. Grossly there were pale foci multifocally distributed throughout the hepatic parenchyma in 4 lambs. The microscopic changes, which were similar to those produced by other steroidal sapogenins–containing plants such as Tribulus terrestris and Panicum spp., included multifocal chol-angitis, bile duct proliferation, and the presence of crystals in the biliary system.