Research Article Toxicity Effects of Toad (Rhinella jimi Stevaux, 2002) Venom in Chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) Ivana Cristina Nunes Gadelha, 1 Joseney Maia de Lima, 1 Jael Soares Batista, 1 Marilia Martins Melo, 2 and Benito Soto-Blanco 2 1 Programa de P´ os-graduac ¸˜ ao em Ciˆ encia Animal, Universidade Federal Rural do Semi- ´ Arido (UFERSA), BR 110 Km 47, 59628-360 Mossor´ o, RN, Brazil 2 Departamento de Cl´ ınica e Cirurgia Veterin´ arias, Escola de Veterin´ aria, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Avenida Antˆ onio Carlos 6627, 31275-013 Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil Correspondence should be addressed to Benito Soto-Blanco; bsotoblanco@yahoo.com.br Received 11 April 2014; Accepted 3 June 2014; Published 19 June 2014 Academic Editor: Ingo Nolte Copyright © 2014 Ivana Cristina Nunes Gadelha et al. his is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. his study aimed to evaluate the pathological changes that occur ater administering diferent doses of R. jimi (Stevaux, 2002) parotoid glands secretion to Gallus gallus domesticus chicks. Twenty-three animals were used in this study and were divided into 5 groups that received a toad venom dose of 0, 3.0 mg/kg, 6.0 mg/kg, 10.0 mg/kg, and 25.0 mg/kg. Ater 48 h, the necropsy and pathological examinations were performed. No clinical signs of toxicity were observed in any group. Macroscopically, hepatomegaly, areas of liver necrosis, splenomegaly, necrotic and hemorrhagic cardiac regions, hydropericardium, dark necrotic lesions of Meckel’s diverticulum, and hemorrhages in the lungs and kidneys were detected. Histopathological changes included difuse vacuolar degeneration of hepatocytes, severe sinusoidal congestion, focal areas of hemorrhage in the parenchyma, swollen cardiac ibers, necrotic myocardial ibers, moderate to acute difuse alveolar hemorrhage, vacuolar degeneration of the renal tubular epithelium, necrosis of renal tubules, and extensive hemorrhagic areas below the brain and cerebellar meninges. In conclusion, pathological changes of the R. jimi toxins in chicks were noted in the heart, spleen, liver, Meckel’s diverticulum, lungs, and kidneys. Most of the changes were similar to those observed in humans and animals exposed to toxins from other toad species. 1. Introduction he toad genera Bufo and Rhinella, which belong to the Bufonidae family, possess various granular glands that secrete toxins for protection against predators. One such is the parotoid gland, which is located in the postorbital region, on both sides, and is specialized in toxin production and storage. In the most toxic species, the parotoid glands are well developed, allowing the storage of large quantities of the venom [1–3]. Toad toxin mainly consists of derived steroids (bufadi- enolides and bufotoxins) and biogenic amines (epinephrine, norepinephrine, serotonin, bufotenine, and dihydrobufote- nine) [3–6]. Bufadienolides and bufotoxins inhibit the Na + /K + ATPase pump in the heart muscle cells. At high concentrations, these compounds may induce hallucinogenic efects by acting on the central nervous system [3–6]. It is probable that epinephrine, norepinephrine, and serotonin do not contribute signiicantly to the poisoning because these compounds given orally are rapidly metabolized by catechol- O-methyltransferase (COMT) in the gastrointestinal tract and by monoamine oxidase (MAO) in the gastrointestinal tract and liver [7]. he Rhinella genus contains more than 250 species; about 77 of them inhabit the Americas [3]. Some species with toxicological importance include Rhinella marina Linnaeus, 1758 (Bufo marinus), Rhinella icterica Spix, 1824 (Bufo icter- icus), Rhinella (Bufo) schneideri Werner, 1894, and Rhinella jimi Stevaux, 2002 [3]. Undoubtedly, the most studied species is cane toad R. marina. he poisoning by R. marina toad has been reported in diferent species including dogs, lizards, snakes, opossums, cats, pigs, chickens, ducks, turtles, Hindawi Publishing Corporation e Scientific World Journal Volume 2014, Article ID 851473, 6 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/851473