Effects of Strain, Age and Diet on the Response of Rats to the Ingestion of Cycas circinalis

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Abstract
Cycas circinalis fruits obtained from Guam were dried in the laboratory and the nut meats were ground and incorporated in diets fed to rats in order to study the properties of the toxic factors in these nuts. Growth depression curves were linear when the percentages of cycad in diets were plotted against logarithms of body weight changes during a 5-day bioassay period. The toxicity of cycad decreased as a result of soaking and incubation in water, heating and storage. The decrease in toxicity was probably due to enzymatic and chemical degradation of cycasin, the toxin in cycad. Younger rats appeared to be more severely affected by cycad toxicity than older rats, while strain, sex and origins of rats had no influence on susceptibility. Increasing concentrations of casein (protein) and methionine in diets did not appreciably alter the toxicity response of animals fed cycad. Rats fed 2% cycad diets for 2 weeks died with typical symptoms of cycasin toxicity even though they had been fed the basal ration (without cycad) following the cycad diet.

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