Activated carbon does not prevent the toxicity of culture material containing fumonisin B1 when fed to weanling piglets1

Abstract

Fumonisins are mycotoxins found primarily in corn and corn products that are produced by Fusarium verticillioides, F. proliferatum, and several other Fusarium species. The toxicity of fumonisin B1 (FB) from culture material with and without activated carbon was evaluated using weanling piglets. Fifty-six weanling pigs were assigned to one of four treatments diets based on BW. The treatment diets were 1) control = corn-soybean basal diet with < 2 ppm FB; 2) AC = control + activated carbon at 1% of the diet, as fed; 3) FB = control + culture material (formulated to contain 30 ppm FB, as-fed basis); and 4) AC + FB = control + activated carbon at 1% of the diet as fed + culture material (formulated to contain 30 ppm FB). A total of four replicates of four pigs per pen for the control and AC treatments and three piglets per pen for the FB and AC + FB treatments were used. Feed and water were offered ad libitum for the duration of the 42-d experiment. Compared with pigs fed the control or AC diets, pigs receiving the two FB-contaminated diets (FB or AC + FB) had lower G:F (P < 0.01), higher serum enzyme activities of gamma-glutamyltransferase and glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (P < 0.05), and higher concentrations of cholesterol, free sphinganine, sphingosine-1-phosphate, and sphinganine 1-phosphate (P < 0.05). Although animals consuming FB diets showed no signs of respiratory distress, all pigs consuming either the FB or the AC + FB diets had marked pulmonary edema. Lesions were observed in the lungs, heart, and liver of pigs fed the FB or AC + FB diets, and treatment-associated changes also were seen in the pancreas, intestines, spleen, and lymph nodes. No lesions were observed in the brain. In liver, lung, heart, pancreas, spleen, intestines, and lymph nodes, the histopathological effects observed were more severe in the AC + FB group, suggesting that the AC treatment worsened the toxic effects of FB. Additionally, immunological measurements of macrophage function (CD14) were affected (P < 0.05) by the consumption of the FB diets. The consumption of FB diets containing 30 ppm fumonisin B1 from cultured material significantly affected performance, biochemical measurements, and organ pathology in weanling pigs. The addition of activated carbon at the rate of 1% to the diet was not effective in protecting against the detrimental effects of fumonisin consumption.

Biomarkers of exposure to fumonisin mycotoxins: A review

“…Increases in serum levels of both the Sa and the So 1-phosphates have been observed in pigs and horses dosed with fumonisins (Constable et al 2005, Piva et al 2005. Further studies have demonstrated the elevation of these metabolites in kidney and liver tissue and serum of Sprague-Dawley rats dosed with fumonisin and raised the possibility that Sa 1-phosphate may be a more reliable biomarker than the Sa:So ratio, at least in animal studies (Riley and Voss 2006).…”

Efficacy of AdiDetox™ in reducing the toxicity of fumonisin B1 in rats

“…The basic mechanism involves sequestration of mycotoxins in the gastrointestinal tract and chemisorption, which results in a reduction of their bioavailability (Abdel-Wahhab et al, 1999;Phillips et al, 1990). Numerous sequestering agents such as activated carbon, sodium bentonite, cholestyramine and aluminosilicates have been tested to prevent the detrimental effects of fumonisins on animals (Miazzo et al, 2005;Piva et al, 2005;Solfrizzo et al, 2001a). Avantaggiato et al (2007) reported that carbon aluminosilicate-based products decreased (29%) fumonisin absortion in an in vitro gastrointestinal model.…”

Developing biomarkers of human exposure to mycotoxins

“…Disruption of sphingolipid metabolism will only occur when a threshold for inhibition of ceramide synthesis has been reached and further work is required to determine the suitability of raised markers of disrupted sphingolipid metabolism for fumonisin exposure estimation in humans. Recently, other mechanism-based biomarkers, for example, the serum Sa and So 1-phosphates have been shown to increase in pigs and horses fed with FB (Constable et al, 2005;Piva et al, 2005) and it has been suggested that Sa 1-phosphate may be a more reliable biomarker than the Sa:So ratio (Riley and Voss, 2006).…”