A feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of aflatoxin (AF)-contaminated diets on growth and hematological and immunological parameters. Low doses of aflatoxins (140 and 280 ppb) were included in a corn-soybean diet provided for ad libitum consumption to 36 weanling piglets for a period of 4 wk. A "dose-related" decrease in weight gain was observed in treated animals. This effect was significant (P < 0.05) in the 280 ppb-treated group compared to the control group. Ingestion of AF-contaminated feed at either level had no effect on total red blood cell numbers or on their relative number of lymphocytes, monocytes, neutrophils, basophils, and eosinophils in blood. Likewise, AF did not alter globulin, albumins, or total protein concentrations in serum, nor did AF alter the expression of regulatory cytokines produced by either Th1 (IL-2) or Th2 (IL-4) lymphocyte subsets in phytohemagglutinin-stimulated blood samples. By contrast, AF had a biphasic effect on total white blood cell number; the low dose of AF (140 ppb) decreased the total number of white blood cells, whereas the high dose (280 ppb) had the opposite effect. Consumption of AF also increased the concentration of gamma-globulin in the serum. A reduced immune response induced by Mycoplasma agalactiae in the 280-ppb-treated group was also observed. Cytokine mRNA expression in phytohemagglutinin-stimulated blood cells indicated that AF decreased proinflammatory (IL-1beta, TNF-alpha) and increased anti-inflammatory (IL-10) cytokine mRNA expression. These results demonstrate that low doses of AF depress growth and alter many aspects of humoral and cellular immunity in pigs.

Over the last decade, there has been a growing interest in the use of a wide range of phytoadditives to counteract the harmful effects of heat stress in poultry. Willow (Salix spp.) is a tree with a long history. Among various forms, willow bark is an important natural source of salicin, β-O-glucoside of saligenin, but also of polyphenols (flavonoids and condensed tannins) with antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory activity. In light of this, the current review presents some literature data aiming to: (1) describe the relationship between heat stress and oxidative stress in broilers, (2) present or summarize literature data on the chemical composition of Salix species, (3) summarize the mechanisms of action of willow bark in heat-stressed broilers, and (4) present different biological effects of the extract of Salix species in different experimental models.

This paper presents the development, optimization and validation of a new HPLC method used for the separation and determination of zearalenone, ZON, and its metabolites in biological samples of Leghorn broiler. ZON and its metabolites can be separated with good resolution in 11 min, using a Hypersil Gold C18 column, a mobile phase mixture of 50 mM aqueous ammonium acetate:acetonitrile:methanol, 45:8:47 (v/v/v), flow rate 1 mL/min and column temperature 40 degrees C. Based on the results obtained by this method applied on biological samples one can conclude that liver is the site for zearalenone localization and detoxification. Influence of zearalenone on the nutritional properties of broiler meat (weight variation, gross chemical composition, fatty acids profile of the meat) was studied, also. Results obtained during 4 days of treatment with ZON showed minimal or no effects of the dietary zearalenone on broiler meat nutritional quality.

A 28-day feeding trial was conducted on 60, Cobb 500 broilers (14 days), assigned to 2 groups (C, E) housed in an experimental hall (32° C, 23 h light regimen). Compared to the conventional diet C, the experimental diet (E) included 1% white willow bark extract (WBE). At 42 days of age, 6 blood samples /group were collected and 6 broilers/ group were slaughtered and caecal content was collected. The dietary WBE didn’t influence broiler performance. The serum concentrations of glycaemia, cholesterol and triglycerides were lower (P <0.05) in E group than in C group. E broilers had the lowest count (P<0.05) of Enterobacteriaceae, E. coli and staphylococci colony forming units in the caecal content. The inclusion of WBE (1%) in the diet of broilers reared at 32° C had an hypocholesterolemiant and hypoglycaemic effect and reduced the pathogenic bacteria in the caecum.

Plants and plant extracts (PPEs) have gained increasing interest as feed additives and possible replacing antibiotics for pig productions. The effects of dietary Chlorella vulgaris (1%), sodium alginate (0.1%), inulin (1.5%), and a mixture of essential oils (0.04%) supplements on immune response, and bioavailability of some micronutrients (iron − Fe, copper − Cu, manganese − Mn, and zinc − Zn) were investigated in weaned piglets in this study. The results showed that the concentration of IgG was increased in the plasma of pigs fed the PPEs supplemented diets being significantly higher (P < 0.05) in the case of dietary sodium alginate supplementation in comparison to the control (6.00 vs. 4.03 mg/ml). In liver, PPEs, especially inulin and essential oils, were able to modulate the level of cytokine production and mineral retention, resulting in higher liver concentration of IL-1β (125.4 and 88.9%), IL-8 (136.9 and 61.3%), TNF-a (296.6 and 121.6%), and IFN-γ (51.2 and 107.28%), Cu (71.31 ppm), and Fe (192.56 ppm) in comparison to the control. The results of this experiment indicate that natural supplements investigated herein, especially inulin, essential oils, and sodium alginate had the ability to potentiate both the immune function and mineral retention during the initial post weaning period.