A dairy cow model to assess aflatoxin transmission from feed into milk – Evaluating efficacy of the mycotoxin binder Mycosorb®

Abstract

A dairy cow model was established to measure the transmission of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) into milk. Four Ayrshire mid-lactation dairy cows (ranging 590 -650 kg body weight and averaging 4.5 years of age) were used in a crossover experimental design in which each cow acted as its own control and was subjected to four dietary treatments administered as six 12-day feeding periods followed by a 7-day washout period. Periods I -VI comprised a 7 d of adaptation followed by 5 d of sampling. Period VII was a 7-d washout with sampling in the final two days. From each morning's milking, yield was recorded and sampled for AFM1 analysis by HPLC. Treatments included a negative control, contamination with AFB1 (5 µg of AFB1/ kg feed), AFB1 + Mycosorb ® (MTB) 10 g/cow/d, and AFB1 + MTB 50 g/cow/d. In response to the negative control, AFM1 concentrations in milk remained below the limit of detection (<5 ng/kg), whereas cows fed the AFB1-contaminated feed had milk AFM1 concentrations ranging from 110 to 230 ng/kg. At the end of the washout period, AFM1 was again undetectable. The dairy cow model was also used to test the efficacy of the yeast-cell-wall-based mycotoxin binder Mycosorb ® (MTB) in reducing secretion of AFM1 into milk by cows fed the same AFB1-contaminated diet. When supplemented at 50 g/head/day, MTB significantly reduced (P < 0.05) AFM1 secretion into milk with no adverse effects on milk production. The dairy cow model is a sensitive tool for measuring aflatoxin transmission to milk and mycotoxin binder efficacy at 5 µg of AFB1/kg feed. As it is common for on-farm AFB1 concentrations to exceed 5 µg/kg, more research may be warranted to determine the effectiveness of the model at higher AFB1 concentrations.

The Assessment of Diet Contaminated with Aflatoxin B1 in Juvenile Turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) and the Evaluation of the Efficacy of Mitigation of a Yeast Cell Wall Extract

“…Therefore, dietary YCWE could decrease the health risk resulting from feed consumption with AFB 1 contamination. The results agree with previous studies in cows (10 g YCWE/cow per day) [58] and broilers (0.1% or 0.25% addition) [61,62,102,103]. Further, Diet 8 resulted in significantly higher alpha diversity and abundance of some potential beneficial bacteria compared to Diet 6; the abundance of potential pathogenic bacteria Salmonella, Aeromonas and Comamonas was lowered by Diet 8 compared to Diet 1.…”

“…Due to the negative effects of some of the inorganic adsorbents, such as adsorption of micronutrients [44,45], high inclusion rates [49] and limited adsorbing capacity to multiple mycotoxins [48,50], research has shifted to focus on composite-type mycotoxin adsorbents [43,[51][52][53]. Yeast cell wall extract (YCWE) is an adsorbent that contains yeast cell wall, beer yeast powder, calcium carbonate and hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate, which have shown favorable effects in livestock and poultry challenged with mycotoxin exposure [54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63].…”

Comprehensive Evaluation of the Efficiency of Yeast Cell Wall Extract to Adsorb Ochratoxin A and Mitigate Accumulation of the Toxin in Broiler Chickens

“…In this context, the use of appropriate mitigation programs is often recommended. Toxin adsorbents are frequently supplemented to animal diets to prevent the deleterious effect of mycotoxins, among them specific yeast cell wall extracts have shown promising results [4][5][6].…”

Nutritional Level and Quality – Condition and Component of Animal Welfare

“…For example, the presence of toxic stuffs in cow's milk is regulated by the European Commission under the General Food Law (EC Regulation No 178/2002), with official controls on feed (EC Regulation No 152/2009), in order to prevent implications for animal health and to ensure consumer protection (Moran C.A. [1]).…”