As more information becomes available I will include it in future newsletters. The authors acknowledge the assistance of Thomas Nelson, California State University-Humboldt, in identifying the lupine species, Clayton Reece for mass spectral analysis, Jerry Ito for technical assistance and Richard Keeler for an authentic sample of anagyrine.
Teratogens are substances that cause birth defects.
Although nongenetic deformities have been recorded throughout human history, evidence that they could be caused by exposure to toxic chemicals did not appear until the 1930s, and it was the 1961 Thalidomide episode that generated today's public concern over teratogenic chemicals. Compounds as chemically diverse as vitamin D, quinine, aspirin, marijuana cannabinols, and 2,4-D have shown some evidence of teratogenicity in laboratory rodents. We now suspect that toxic constituents of common plants may contribute to human birth defects. Birth defects in domestic animals are commonplace. More detailed investigation by Richard Keeler over the past few years shows that crooked-calf disease can be directly attributed to ingestion of a specific lupine alkaloid, known as anagyrine, by the mother at some time during the second or third month of pregnancy.