Improved method for diagnosis of Nerium oleander poisoning in necropsy tissues

Abstract

Nerium oleander is an ornamental cardiotoxic plant found in tropical and subtropical areas of the World. Its toxicity is related to the content of cardioactive glycosides, mainly oleandrin, found throughout the plant. The present study aimed to describe a new and improved method for oleandrin detection in tissue samples. The determination of oleandrin was made after extraction with a modified QuEChERS technique and measurement by UFLC-MS/MS. A total of 36 guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) were distributed into 3 groups (n=12): control group that received only water orally (CON), and two treated groups that received hydroalcoholic oleander extract at doses of 150mg.kg-1 (OLE 150) and 300mg.kg-1 (OLE 300) in single oral dose. After three hours, fragments of heart, kidneys, liver and brain were collected for determination of oleandrin levels. The extraction and chromatographic procedures were effective for oleandrin detection and quantification in tissues, with retention time of 1.2 min and detection limit of 0.001μg g-1. The chromatographic analysis of treated guinea pigs indicated that oleandrin is distributed equally among the analyzed tissues. The developed methodology is a reliable, effective and rapid form of diagnosis of N. oleander poisoning based on necropsy tissue samples.

Outbreak of Oleander (Nerium oleander) Poisoning in Dairy Cattle: Clinical and Food Safety Implications

“…Currently available techniques for the detection of Nerium oleander toxic components include digoxin fluorescence polarization immunoassay, based on the molecular similarities between digoxin and oleandrin, thin-layer chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography of the fluorescent derivative, and LC-MS/MS [31]. However, most analytical methods are not sufficiently sensitive or specific to detect and quantify oleandrin in biological fluids and tissues.…”

Oleandrin: A Systematic Review of its Natural Sources, Structural Properties, Detection Methods, Pharmacokinetics and Toxicology

“…Owing to the sensitivity and specificity of LC-MS technology, attempts were made to use this method in as early as 1993 to confirm oleandrin in decayed human tissues ( Rule et al, 1993 ). Recent studies have indicated that trace-level oleandrin can be rapidly and accurately analyzed in various complex biological samples, both qualitatively and quantitatively using LC-MS/MS ( Song et al, 2017 ; Xun et al, 2017 ; Ying et al, 2017 ; Botelho et al, 2018 ; Zhai et al, 2018 ; Gosetti et al, 2019 ; Oishi et al, 2019 ; Ceci et al, 2020 ). As such, LC-MS/MS analysis has evolved into the best choice for pharmacokinetic and experimental toxicological studies of oleandrin ( Tor et al, 2005 ).…”