Ammonia poisoning causes muscular but not liver damage in cattle

Twelve steers were intraruminally administered a high dose (0.5g/kg BW) of urea to study the damage effect of ammonia poisoning on liver and/or muscles. Blood samples were collected to determine ammonia and activities of gamma GT, AST and CK. Eleven steers were successfully poisoned and treated property, but one succumbed. Poisoned cattle showed high concentration of ammonia, and higher activities of AST and CK. The higher the ammonia, the greater were the activities of AST (r=0.59) and CK (r=0.61). The correlation between AST and CK was high and significant (r=0.80), but not between AST and yGT (r=0.19). The activities of AST and CK were higher after the beginning of the convulsive episodes due to ammonia poisoning. Those results showed that Occurred Muscle darnage instead of liver damage since CK is a typical enzyme from skeletal muscle; AST is found either in skeletal muscle and hepatocytes, while yGT is present in hepatic cells.