Diurnal Urinary Excretion of DHP in Steers Fed \u3cem\u3eLeucaena leucocephala\u3c/em\u3e

Leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala) contains the toxin mimosine which is quickly degraded by rumen microorganisms to isomers of dihydroxypyridine (DHP). DHP is detrimental to animal production, causing reduced thyroid hormones, reduced weight gain, goiter and severe deficiencies in essential minerals (Tsai and Ling 1971; Hammond 1995). There are several methods of testing for exposure to DHP toxicity but the simplest is the colorimetric urine spot test (Graham et al. 2013). Several researchers have noted high variability in the excretion of DHP among animals on similar leucaena diets (Dalzell et al. 2012; Phaikaew et al. 2012) and even in the same animal over sequential samplings (O\u27Reagain and Shelton 2013). They noted that it was possible to obtain samples with very low DHP in unprotected animals on high leucaena diets, leading to the false conclusion that the animal was successfully degrading DHP in the rumen. This study examined the extent and possible causes of variation of DHP concentration in spot urine samples taken over a 6-week period, including an intensive sampling over a 24 hour period