An improved LC/MS method was validated, which offers a practical and economical means for large-scale detection and quantification of multiple mycotoxins in common animal-feed matrices, including DDGS.

The chronic intake of naturally multi-mycotoxin contaminated feed by broilers with or without titers of Yeast Cell Wall Extract (YCWE, a.k.a Mycosorb A+®), was investigated. Day-old male Cobb chicks (1600 birds, 64 pens, 25 birds/pen) were randomly allocated to diets of control (CON); diet containing mycotoxins (MT); CON + 0.2% YCWE; MT + 0.025% YCWE; MT + 0.05% YCWE; MT + 0.1% YCWE; MT + 0.2% YCWE; and MT + 0.4% YCWE. Growth performance, blood biochemical parameters and gut health were recorded over 42 days. Compared with CON, MT had reduced body weight (BW) and increased feed conversion ratio (FCR) on days 35 and 42 with increased duodenal crypt depth and fewer goblet cells. Furthermore, European Poultry Production Efficiency (EPEF) was reduced for MT versus CON. Feeding MT + 0.2% YCWE improved BW, lowered FCR, reduced crypt depth, increased goblet cell count and improved EPEF. Considering titration of YCWE (0 to 0.4%) during mycotoxin challenge, a cubic effect was observed for FCR with NC + 0.2% YCWE having the lowest FCR. These findings suggest that chronic consumption of multiple Fusarium mycotoxins present in common field concentrations can negatively impact broiler performance and gut health while inclusion of YCWE, particularly 0.2%, could be effective in counteracting mycotoxins.

No abstract

Yeast cell wall-based preparations have shown efficacy against Aspergillus-based toxins but have lower impact against type-B trichothecenes. Presently, we investigated a combination of deoxynivalenol (DON), T-2 toxin (T2) and zearalenone (ZEA), and the effect of a yeast cell wall extract (YCWE) and a post-biotic yeast cell wall-based blend (PYCW) with the objectives of preventing mycotoxins’ negative effects in commercial broilers. A total of 720 one-day-old male Cobb broilers were randomly allocated to: (1) control diet, (aflatoxins 6 µg/kg; cyclopiazonic acid 15 µg/kg; fusaric acid 25 µg/kg; fumonisin B1 310 µg/kg); (2) Diet1 + 0.2% YCWE; (3) Diet1 + 0.2% PYCW; (4) Contaminated diet (3.0 mg/kg DON; 2.17 mg/kg 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol; 104 g/kg T2; 79 g/kg ZEA); (5) Diet4 + 0.2% YCWE; and (6) Diet4 + 0.2% PYCW. Naturally contaminated diets adversely affected performance, serum biochemistry, liver function, immune response, altered cecal SCFA goblet cell count and architecture of intestinal villi. These adverse effects were reduced in birds fed PYCW and to a lesser extent YCWE, indicating protection against toxic assault. PYCW yielded better production performance and stimulated liver function, with higher response to NDV and IBV vaccination. Furthermore, mycotoxins were found to affect production outputs when evaluated with the European poultry production efficiency factor compared to control or YCWE and PYCW supplemented treatments. Taken together, YCWE, when complemented with nutritional add-ons (PYCW), could potentiate the remediation of the negative effects from a multi mycotoxins dietary challenge in broiler birds.

Ergot alkaloids, in their active isomeric form, affect animal health and performance, and adsorbents are used to mitigate toxicities by reducing bioavailability. Adsorbents with high specificity (molecularly imprinted polymers: MIP) adsorb ergot alkaloids in vitro, but require evaluation for biological implications. Using ex vivo myography, synthetic polymers were evaluated for effects on the bioactivity of ergotamine tartrate (ETA). Polymers were first evaluated using isotherms. Lateral saphenous veins were collected from 17 steers for four independent studies: dose response of ETA, adsorbent dose response, validation of pre-myograph incubation conditions and MIP/ non-molecularly imprinted polymer (NIP) comparison. Norepinephrine normalized percent contractile response to increasing ETA exhibited a sigmoidal dose response (max: 88.47 and log of the effective molar concentration (EC50) (−log [ETA]) of 6.66 ± 0.17 M). Although sample preparation time affected contractile response (p < 0.001), pre-myograph incubation temperature (39 vs. 21 °C, 1 h) had no effect (p > 0.05). Isothermal adsorption showed a maximum adsorption of 3.27E-008 moles·mg−1 and affinity between 0.51 and 0.57 mg (R2: 0.83–0.92) for both polymers, with no significant difference between polymers (p > 0.05). No significant differences in maximum inhibitory (p = 0.96) and IC50 responses (p = 0.163) between MIP and NIP were noticed. Normalized percent contraction could be predicted from the in vitro adsorption data (R2 = 0.87, p < 0.01), for both polymers. These studies indicate that synthetic polymers are potentially effective adsorbents to mitigate ergot toxicity caused by ergot alkaloids, with little evidence of significant differences between MIP and NIP in aqueous media.