This study was designed to establish if Curcumin (CM) alleviates Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1)-induced hepatotoxic effects and to determine whether alteration of the expression of cytochrome P450 (CYP450) isozymes is involved in the regulation of these effects in chick liver. One-day-old male broilers (n = 120) were divided into four groups and used in a two by two factorial trial in which the main factors included supplementing AFB1 (< 5 vs. 100 μg/kg) and CM (0 vs. 150 mg/kg) in a corn/soybean-based diet. Administration of AFB1 induced liver injury, significantly decreasing albumin and total protein concentrations and increasing alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase activities in serum, and induced hepatic histological lesions at week 2. AFB1 also significantly decreased hepatic glutathione peroxidase, catalase, and glutathione levels, while increasing malondialdehyde, 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine, and exo-AFB1-8,9-epoxide (AFBO)-DNA concentrations. In addition, the mRNA and/or activity of enzymes responsible for the bioactivation of AFB1 into AFBO—including CYP1A1, CYP1A2, CYP2A6, and CYP3A4—were significantly induced in liver microsomes after 2-week exposure to AFB1. These alterations induced by AFB1 were prevented by CM supplementation. Conclusively, dietary CM protected chicks from AFB1-induced liver injury, potentially through the synergistic actions of increased antioxidant capacities and inhibition of the pivotal CYP450 isozyme-mediated activation of AFB1 to toxic AFBO.

Dietary silymarin supplementation at 100, 200, and 500 mg/kg protected rats from ZEN-induced hepatotoxicity and reproductive toxicity, potentially through improvement in the antioxidant capacity and regulation in the genes related to protein synthesis, ZEN metabolism, hormone synthesis, and ABC transporters in the tissues.

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