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1. Polyvinylpolypyrrolidone (PVPP), synthetic zeolite (SZ) and bentonite (BNT), when incorporated into the diets at 3, 5 and 5 g/kg respectively, were evaluated for their ability to reduce the deleterious effects of 2.5 mg aflatoxin (AF; 83.06% AFB1, 12.98% AFB2, 2.84% AFG1, and 1.12% AFG2,)/kg diet on growing broiler chickens from 1 day to 3 weeks of age. A total of 210 chicks were divided into 10 treatment groups (control, AF, PVPP, AF plus PVPP, PVPP plus SZ, AF plus PVPP plus SZ, PVPP plus BNT, AF plus PVPP plus BNT, AF plus SZ and AF plus BNT) each consisting of 21 chicks. 2. When compared to control, the AF treatment significantly decreased serum total protein, albumin, inorganic phosphorus, uric acid and total cholesterol, and the values of haematocrit, haemoglobin, mean corpuscular haemoglobin, thrombocyte counts, percentage of lymphocyte and monocyte counts; increased values of white blood cell and heterophil counts. 3. Decreased serum albumin caused by AF was significantly ameliorated by PVPP plus BNT. A similar increase was obtained in serum total cholesterol by adding BNT to the AF-containing diet. 4. The serum uric acid, white blood cell counts and percentage of lymphocyte and monocyte counts were numerically intermediate between control and AF values in all of the adsorbent treatments containing AF. The change in thrombocyte counts was alleviated by all of the adsorbent treatments containing AF, except AF plus SZ. The addition of the adsorbents in the AF-free diets did not significantly alter the serum biochemical and haematological parameters compared to controls.

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We evaluated the efficacy of yeast glucomannan (Mycosorb), incorporated into the diet at 0.5 and 1 g/kg, in reducing the detrimental effects of 2 mg aflatoxin/kg diet on growing broiler chicks from 1 to 21 d of age. A total of 240 male broiler chicks (Ross-308) was divided into 6 treatment groups [Control, Aflatoxin (AF), Yeast glucomannan (YG; 0.5 g/kg), AF plus YG (0.5 g/kg), YG (1 g/kg), and AF plus YG (1 g/kg)]. Ten chicks from each of the 6 groups were slaughtered and pathological examinations were performed on the liver, bursa of Fabricius, thymus, spleen and kidney. The aflatoxin treatment caused moderate to severe hydropic/fatty degeneration in the hepatocytes of the liver and the tubular epithelium of the kidneys, and follicular depletion in the bursa of Fabricius, thymus and spleen. Yeast glucomannan added to the aflatoxin-containing diet at 0.5 and 1 g/kg diminished the severity of pathological changes, slightly and moderately, respectively. The number of affected organs was also reduced in the group given 1 g/kg yeast glucomannan, compared to the aflatoxin group. These results show that yeast glucomannan effectively diminished the adverse effects of aflatoxin on the pathological changes and that the higher concentration of yeast glucomannan (1 g/kg) was more effective than the lower concentration (0.5 g/kg) and itself had no adverse effect.