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Original Article

Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Ergotamine in Steers

Nikolay M. Filipov^*,2, Frederick N. Thompson^*,1, John A. Stuedemann, Theodore H. Elsasser, Stanislaw Kahl, Larry H. Stanker^§, Colin R. Young^§, Donald L. Dawe^¶ and Charles K. Smith^*

^* Departments of Physiology and Pharmacology and
^¶ Medical Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602;
J. Phil Campbell, Sr., Natural Resource Conservation Center, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Watkinsville, Georgia 30677;
Growth Biology Laboratory, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, Maryland 20705; and
^§ Food Animal Protection Research Laboratory, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, College Station, Texas 77845

The objective of this experiment was to investigate whether the ergot alkaloid, ergotamine (ET), an alkaloid used to model fescue toxicosis in cattle, modifies the response of cattle to endotoxin (LPS) challenge. Steers (n = 16) were divided into the following treatment groups: control (C), ergotamine (ET), endotoxin (LPS), and ET + LPS. ET and ET + LPS groups received a single bolus intravenous injection of ET (40 µg · kg · body wt^-1), whereas C and LPS steers received a single bolus injection of sterile vehicle. Thirty minutes after ET/vehicle administration, a single bolus intravenous injection of LPS (0.2 µg · kg · body wt^-1) was given. Blood was collected at various time points for 48 hr post. Endotoxin increased rectal temperature (RT) and the circulating levels of tumor necrosis factor- (TNF-), cortisol, haptoglobin (Hp), thromboxane B₂ (TXB₂). The circulating Hp, TNF-, and TXB₂ increases were blunted by pretreatment with ET compared with ET + LPS. Ergotamine by itself increased circulating cortisol and RT, whereas it decreased serum prolactin (PRL). Therefore, whereas administration of LPS at 0.2 µg/kg to steers resulted in an expected response, the combination of ET + LPS attenuated major effects of LPS alone. Thus, acute administration of ET appeared to be anti-inflammatory as it decreased the inflammatory response to LPS, an effect likely driven at least in part by the ET-caused cortisol increase.

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