Nutritional toxicity of raw kidney beans in pigs. Immunocytochemical and cytopathological studies on the gut and the pancreas

The inclusion of raw kidney beans (Phaseolus vulgaris cv. Processor) in diets of growing pigs resulted in loss of appetite, growth depression and intermittent scouring. Immunocytochemical and morphological investigations showed extensive disruption of intestinal microvilli in those areas of the small intestine where dietary bean lectins were bound to the mucosal surfaces. Degenerative changes were also present in pancreatic acinar cells of pigs fed on kidney beans. These changes were not a direct effect of the bean lectins but may have been related to the disturbances in the gut.