Sheep earwax can record a toxic diet

What is in your earwax? What else can be found in earwax?

"... The findings add to the team’s previous research showing toxins from different poisonous plants can turn up in cattle earwax. Earwax may be a useful tool for ranchers to quickly locate toxic plants—even pinpointing them to a specific pasture by analyzing the grazing habits of affected animals—and protect their livestock. ...

Researchers are increasingly recognizing earwax as a sticky window into health, though much of this research has focused on humans. Our earwax may show markers of diabetes, cortisol levels, metabolic changes and even cancer. ..."

From the highlights and abstract:

"Highlights

• Zygacine and zygadenine were observed in the earwax of sheep dosed with death camas alkaloids adsorbed onto alfalfa.

• Zygacine and zygadenine were observed in the earwax of sheep that grazed rangeland with abundant death camas.

• Zygacine + zygadenine is a biomarker of death camas (Z. paniculatus) ingestion in the earwax of sheep.

Abstract

Foothill death camas (Z. paniculatus) grows on the foothill ranges of western North America and is acutely toxic to livestock grazing these ranges. The toxic alkaloids in foothill death camas are zygadenine and a series of zygadenine esters, with zygacine, the 3-acetyl ester of zygadenine, being the most abundant. In this study, earwax was evaluated as a specimen to determine livestock exposure to foothill death camas. Death camas alkaloids were detected in the earwax of sheep administered oral doses of foothill death camas alkaloids. In addition, death camas alkaloids were detected in the earwax of sheep that grazed rangeland with abundant death camas.

This study demonstrates the potential of earwax as a noninvasive specimen for chemical analyses to aid in the diagnosis of livestock that may have been exposed to and poisoned by death camas. The results from this study indicate that diagnosticians should analyze for zygacine and zygadenine in the earwax of livestock suspected to have been poisoned by foothill death camas."

Sheep earwax can record a dangerous diet "A quick swab may tell ranchers if their livestock are eating a [toxic] salad on the range"

The evaluation of earwax as a noninvasive specimen to determine livestock exposure to death camas (Zigadenus paniculatus) (no public access)

The death camas, classified as Zigadenus paniculatus by some botanists and Toxicoscordion paniculatum by others, contains two toxic compounds that can cause respiratory, motor, heart and other symptoms in sheep.