Evaluation of the ability of a feed additive to ameliorate the adverse effects of aflatoxins in turkey poults

Abstract

1. A study was conducted to evaluate the possible protective effect of a feed additive containing aluminosilicate and phytogenic substances against the adverse effects of aflatoxins in turkey poults. 2. Dietary treatments (6) were given to turkey poults from d 1 to d 42 of age. From d 1 to 21 the dietary treatments were as follows: 1, negative control, no aflatoxins or feed additive added; 2, feed additive control, 1 kg/t feed additive, no aflatoxins; 3, 250 ppb (microg/kg) aflatoxins, no feed additive; 4, 250 ppb aflatoxins + 1 kg/t feed additive; 5, 500 ppb aflatoxins, no feed additive; and 6, 500 ppb aflatoxins + 1 kg/t feed additive. From d 22 to 42, the dietary concentration of the feed additive was increased from 1 to 2 kg/t in all treatment groups receiving the feed additive (2, 4 and 6), while keeping constant the dietary concentrations of aflatoxins. 3. Aflatoxins at 250 ppb did not cause adverse effects on performance but affected certain toxicopathological parameters. At 500 ppb, adverse effects on performance and several toxicological parameters were observed. 4. Some of the adverse affects were partially or completely overcome by supplementation with the feed additive, including amelioration of the performance parameters, suppression of mortality and correction of the immunological alterations induced by the exposure to the aflatoxins.

Harmful Effects and Control Strategies of Aflatoxin B1 Produced by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus Strains on Poultry: Review

“…The concentration of AFB 1 that causes aflatoxicosis and impairs bird productivity depends on the fungal strain and the susceptibility of the bird species to AFB 1 . The susceptibility of bird species to AFB 1 can be summarized as follows: aflotoxicosis occurred in breeders hens, broilers, quail, White Pekin ducks, and turkeys when they consumed diets containing 3000, 2000, 1500, 1100, and 500 μg AFB 1 /kg produced by A. parasiticus (NRRL 2999), respectively [31,32,33,34,35,36,37]. It has been reported [5] that the susceptibility of poultry species to AFB 1 varies because each species has a different capacity for converting AFB 1 to AFB 1 -8,9-epoxide (AFBO, the more toxic form) via the production of cytochrome P450 isozymes, which finally affect the formation and concentration of AFBO [38,39,40] and, thus, the concentrations of AFBO–DNA adducts (causing DNA lesions) [41,42].…”

“…AFB 1 can cause imbalanced lipid metabolism, promoting lipid deposition in the enlarged liver [107,108], repress the activity of antioxidant enzymes and anti-inflammatory cytokines, enhance lipid peroxidation and pro-inflammatory cytokines, and increase hepatocyte apoptosis [53,109,110,111,112,113]. The usual deleterious effects of AFB 1 on hepatocytes result in high concentrations of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase in poultry blood after feeding diets containing AFB 1 [37,50,71,81,114]. Aspartate aminotransferase (found in mitochondria) and alanine aminotransferase (found in the cytoplasm) are involved in hepatic protein metabolism, and they can determine the cell integrity [115,116].…”

AFB1 Induced Transcriptional Regulation Related to Apoptosis and Lipid Metabolism in Liver of Chicken

“…Among them, AFB1 is the most important hepatotoxic, mutagenic and universal food-borne mycotoxin [2]. Aflatoxin production and metabolism, exposure to symptoms and biomarkers, and methods for reducing aflatoxins have been extensively studied [3,4]. Previous studies have been reported that after intake of AFB1, the liver shows obvious fat deposition [5,6].…”

Aflatoxicosis: Lessons from Toxicity and Responses to Aflatoxin B1 in Poultry

“…However, most additives have been investigated for their potential to reduce AFB1 uptake by the intestine [21]. Many natural absorbents have been shown to decrease the effects of AFB1 in poultry, including super-activated charcoal [153], zeolites like hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate [115,143,198,[252][253][254][255][256][257], clinoptilolite [134,138], and sodium bentonite [158,258]. Antioxidants like butylated hydroxytolouene (BHT) [137,[259][260][261][262][263] and turmeric [124,264] can also mitigate the severity of aflatoxicosis.…”