Effects of feeding corn naturally contaminated with AFB₁ and AFB₂ on performance and aflatoxin residues in broilers

Abstract

AFB 1 is the most abundant aflatoxin in food and animal feed, generally occurring along with low levels of other aflatoxins. In this experiment, broilers were administered corn that was naturally contaminated with AFB 1 and AFB 2 . We found that the broilers were more sensitive during the starter period and had a poor performance during the grower period. In addition, the broilers showed a significant reduction in feed intake when consuming material contaminated with 134.0 and 23.6 µg/kg of AFB 1 and AFB 2 , respectively. Our results also demonstrate that villus height and the ratio of villus height to crypt depth significantly decreased when the broilers were fed daily with diets contaminated with AFB 1 and AFB 2 . Furthermore, AFB 1 residues in livers and breast muscles were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) at levels of 0.137 and 0.016 µg/kg, respectively. The AFM 1 residue was also detected in livers at a level of 0.051 µg/kg but it was not detectable in breast muscles. Keywords: mycotoxin; influence; poultry; HPLC-MS/MSMycotoxins are secondary toxic metabolites of filamentous fungi, which are harmful to human and animal health thus causing significant financial losses to animal industries (Hussein and Brasel, 2001;Wu and Munkvold, 2008;Zhang and Caupert, 2012). Aflatoxins (AF) naturally occur in moldy grains and are a group of metabolites produced by some strains of Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. The primary aflatoxins of concern in feedstuffs are aflatoxins B 1 (AFB 1 ), B 2 (AFB 2 ), G 1 (AFG 1 ), and G 2 (AFG 2 ) (Monbaliu et al., 2010). The order of toxicity is AFB 1 > AFG 1 > AFB 2 > AFG 2 .The legal limits of AFB 1 and AFT in total for several agricultural products have been established by the European Union (2−12 μg/kg for AFB 1 , 4-15 μg/kg for aflatoxins total (B1 + G1 + B2 + G2), and 0.05 μg/kg for AFM 1 in milk), but the value of aflatoxins in other animal products was not recommended (European Commission, 2010). AFB 1 is transformed into toxic metabolites primarily in the liver, and the metabolite of AFB 1 -8, 9-expoxide can form covalent bonds with DNA, RNA, and proteins, resulting in a potent carcinogenic effect (Swenson et al., 1977;Nomura et al.,

Effects of aflatoxin B1 alone or co-administered with Mycotox NG on performance and humoral immunity of turkey broilers.

“…Our results are in line with other (Afzal & Saleem, 2004;Suksombat et al, 2011;Yang et al, 2012;Zuo et al, 2013;Chibanga et al, 2014) reporting that the consumption of feeds contaminated with low amount of aflatoxins in broiler chickens worsened significantly growth performance.…”

Transfer of dietary aflatoxin B1 to milk aflatoxin M1 and effect of inclusion of adsorbent in the diet of dairy cows

“…The difference in effect of yeast cell wall on milk AFM 1 may be related to the species of the experimental animals and the composition of the adsorbent. Although 40 µg/kg AFB 1 used in this study was twice the US legal limit for aflatoxins and 4 times the Chinese legal limit, levels higher than the limit have been detected in China; for instance, 134 µg/kg of AFB 1 in corn (Yang et al, 2012). Therefore, further work is needed to study the effects of types and dosage of adsorbent on milk AFM 1 clearance and healthy condition.…”

Aflatoxicosis: Lessons from Toxicity and Responses to Aflatoxin B1 in Poultry

“…Dietary exposure to AFB1 can lower the unit weight (length/weight) of the duodenum and jejunum [194,195] and affect tissue morphology. In chickens, AFB1 has been shown to raise crypt depth in the jejunum [196], decrease villus height in the duodenum [197], and lower the ratio between villus height/crypt depth in all three sections of the small intestine [197]. However, these histopathological effects may not be pervasive [198].…”