The objective of these experimental trials was to determine the effect of a mannan oligosaccharide (MOS) derived from the outer cell wall of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain 1026 on the growth performance and immune status of rainbow trout. Two experiments were conducted, one with eight net cages and the other with eight raceways. The net cage experiment (42 days) involved 14,400 fish with an initial average weight of 30 g. The raceway experiment (90 days) was conduced with 40,000 fish with an initial average weight of 101 g. Both experiments compared a commercial extruded diet with and without 2,000 ppm MOS supplementation. The calculated daily feed was supplied in six equal rations. Body weight, feed intake, and mortality were recorded and samples were taken for analysis of indicators of immune status. All data were subjected to ANOVA, with a net cage or raceway regarded as an experimental unit. Significantly improved performance and immune status were observed in the net cage trial-improved weight gain of 13.7% (P < 0.01), reduced feed conversion ratio (FCR) (P < 0.05), reduced mortality (P < 0.01), and improved indicators of immune status (P < 0.01) for fish fed the MOS supplement compared with controls. Similar significantly improved performance was observed for the MOS-treated groups in the raceway trial-9.97% improved weight gain (P < 0.01), lower FCR (P < 0.01), and reduced mortality compared with the control treatment. In the raceway trials, however, only the indicators of immune status lysozyme concentration, APCA, and CPCA were significantly improved by MOS treatment (P < 0.05). These experimental trials demonstrated the ability of MOS to improve the growth performance, survival, and immune status of rainbow trout produced in net cages or raceways.

The combined toxic effect of ochratoxin A (OTA) and penicillic acid (PA) on the body mass, the weight and pathomorphology of some internal organs was studied in 85 broiler chickens fed a mouldy diet containing 130, 300 or 800 ppb OTA and 1000-2000 ppb PA. The main pathomorphological changes were cloudy swelling and granular degeneration in the epithelium and mononuclear cell proliferation and activation of capillary endothelium in the kidney and liver; degenerative changes and depletion of lymphoid cells in lymphoid organs (bursa of Fabricius, thymus and spleen) were also seen. Protective effects of 5% total water extract of artichoke and a new natural phytosubstance Rosallsat against these pathomorphological changes were observed. A significant decrease in body mass and relative weight of lymphoid organs was found after 6 weeks of exposure and a greater decrease after 10 weeks of exposure to OTA and PA, and a protective effect of artichoke extract and a slight effect of Rosallsat against that decrease was observed. A significant increase in relative weight of liver and kidneys was also observed as well as a protective effect of artichoke extract against that increase. The quantity of OTA and the percentage of positive samples were significantly lower in tissues of chickens treated with artichoke extract or Rosallsat in addition to OTA than in those treated with only OTA.

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Spontaneous nephropathy in pigs seen in South Africa was found to have multi-mycotoxic etiology involving several mycotoxins such as ochratoxin A (OTA), penicillic acid (PA) and fumonisin B1 (FB1) in addition to a not yet identified mycotoxin. Contamination levels of OTA were comparatively low (67-75 μg/kg) in contrast to high contamination levels of FB1 (5,289-5,021 μg/kg) and PA (149-251 μg/kg). A heavy contamination with Gibberella fujikuroi var. moniliformis and Penicillium aurantiogriseum complex (mainly P. polonicum) was observed in the fed forages in contrast to the light contamination with Aspergillus ochraceus, P. verrucosum and P. citrinum. The pathomorphological picture of this nephropathy was found to differ from the classical description of mycotoxic porcine nephropathy as originally made in Scandinavia by the extensive vascular changes.

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