Study on Efficacy of Diatomaceous Earth to Ameliorate Toxic Effects of Aflatoxin on Internal Organ Weights in Broiler Chicken

Abstract

Aflatoxins are secondary metabolites and a class of mycotoxins produced predominantly by Aspergillus flavus and A.parasiticus. These toxins are present worldwide in feeds and cause severe economic lossesto the poultry and livestock industries (Miller, 1995). Studies showed the adverse effects of aflatoxin in broiler chickens including decrease in body weight gain, efficiency of feed utilization, alteration in serum biochemical parameters, relative weights of visceral and lymphoid organs, immune responses and pathological changes in various organs (Ortatatli et al., 2005;Shi Research Article Abstract | Diatomaceous earth (DAE) is an abundantly available clay, rich in a morphous silica that have light weight, highly porous and super-absorbent nature. The ability of DAE in reducing the adverse effects of aflatoxin (AF) in broiler diet was evaluated. A total of 240 healthy day old broiler chicks were divided into 6 groups (n= 40 per group), comprising of control and treatment groups. Group I and II was served as negative and positive control respectively. The groups III and IV were given 1 and 0.5 ppm of AF Kg -1 of feed respectively, while groups V and VI were both supplemented DAE @ 2000 mg Kg -1 of feed along with 1 and 0.5 ppm of AF Kg -1 of feed, respectively. Feeding of AF resulted in significant increase (p< 0.05) in the relative weight of liver, kidneys and heart in comparison to the control groups. However, the relative weight of thymus, spleen and bursa was found to be decreased (p< 0.05) in the aflatoxin fed birds. The addition of DAE to the aflatoxin mixed feed significantly improved the relative organ weight and decreased the severity of lesions in the visceral and lymphoid organs. The study concluded that DAE can be effectively used to decrease the toxic effects of AF in broiler chicken.

Dietary supplementation of powdered and encapsulated probiotic: In vivo study on relative carcass, giblet weight and intestinal morphometry of local duck

“…A presence of toxic in the basal feed increase in metabolic rate and causes abnormalities of organ weight as a result of reduce toxic effect. Feeding 0.5 and 0.8 ppm aflatoxin (AFB1) in broiler chicken was significant increase the relative weight of heart during period of 42 days (Lakkawar, Narayanaswamy, & Satyanarayana, 2017). Accumulation of lipids in the hepatocytes would change the heart size due to the severe fatty change, lipidosis, and inflammatory reaction (Lakkawar et al, 2015).…”