Mycotoxins in broilers: pathological alterations induced by aflatoxins and ochratoxins, diagnosis and determination, treatment and control of mycotoxicosis

Abstract

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by fungi. Mycotoxins in feed are considered the second most serious issue in the poultry industry, following increased feed prices. There are different types of mycotoxins, including aflatoxins, ochratoxins, fumonisin, trichothecenes, zearalenone, patulin, but the most important are aflatoxins and ochratoxins. Ochratoxin is known as a nephrotoxin as it damages kidney tissues predominantly, whereas aflatoxin has more adverse effects upon the liver. Diagnosis and determination of toxins can be done in tissues and feed samples by using different techniques such as high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), thin layer liquid chromatography (TLC), and fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIA). Treatment of mycotoxicosis can be done by decontamination or detoxification of feed by using mycotoxin binders, plant preparations (nutraceuticals) and vitamins. Mycotoxicosis can be controlled by using transgenic crops and improving harvesting management, storing feed in good environmental conditions and fresh feed for the birds. Hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) should be referred to for the control of mycotoxins in the food chain.

Effect of plant extracts derived from thyme and chamomile on the growth performance, gut morphology and immune system of broilers fed aflatoxin B1 and ochratoxin A contaminated diets

“…Both OTA and AFB are important mycotoxins due to their toxicity and their occurrence in the contaminated diets in Iran. Numerous reports on effects of mycotoxins on broiler performance have been previously reviewed by Abidin et al (2011). There is a general belief that dietary AFB and OTA reduce weight gain, feed intake and increase FCR.…”

“…Consumption of meat and meat products from these animals is a major threat to human health (Heussner and Bingle 2015). When AFB and OTA are co-contaminants of poultry feed, they interact in a synergistic manner (Abidin et al 2011). During dual exposure of these toxins, OTA prevents the major effects of AFB (i.e.…”

“…Several strategies (e.g. physical, chemical or biological) for detoxification and inactivation of toxin are proposed to minimise harmful effects in animals and its consequences in order to prevent aflatoxicosis in human, livestock and poultry (Abidin et al 2011). Recently, there is more interest to natural active biological compounds that derive from plants (Esper et al 2014;Manafi et al 2014;El-Khoury et al 2017).…”

Toxicopathological and Serum Biochemical Alterations Induced by Ochratoxin a in Broiler Chicks and Their Amelioration by Locally Available Bentonite Clay

“…OTA has several nephrotoxic, immunotoxic, mutagenic and teratogenic effects in poultry (O'Brien and Dietrich, 2005;Saleemi et al, 2015;Kumar et al, 2015). OTA is found in several grains, cereals, animal/poultry feeds, meats and human tissues all over the globe (Abidin et al, 2011;Bilal et al, 2014;Khan et al, 2014a and2014b;Valtchev et al, 2015). Bentonite clay basically originates from volcanic ash in impure form containing montmorillonite as its major component (Pappas et al, 2014).…”

Assessment of Ochratoxin A Exposure in Ornamental and Self-Consumption Backyard Chickens

“…The animals can show clinical signs such as reductions in weight gain and pigmentation, enteritis, diarrhoea, and intestinal breakage during processing from intestinal fragility [28]. Furthermore, birds' behaviour is depressed [32], and reduced feed intake and egg production can be observed [33][34][35]. All animals considered in this study were healthy without visible adverse symptoms.…”