The Efficacy of Additives for the Mitigation of Aflatoxins in Animal Feed: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis

Abstract

The contamination of animal feed with aflatoxins is an ongoing and growing serious issue, particularly for livestock farmers in tropical and subtropical regions. Exposure of animals to an aflatoxin-contaminated diet impairs feed efficiency and increases susceptibility to diseases, resulting in mortality, feed waste, and increased production costs. They can also be excreted in milk and thus pose a significant human health risk. This systematic review and network meta-analysis aim to compare and identify the most effective intervention to alleviate the negative impact of aflatoxins on the important livestock sector, poultry production. Eligible studies on the efficacy of feed additives to mitigate the toxic effect of aflatoxins in poultry were retrieved from different databases. Additives were classified into three categories based on their mode of action and composition: organic binder, inorganic binder, and antioxidant. Moreover, alanine transaminase (ALT), a liver enzyme, was the primary indicator. Supplementing aflatoxin-contaminated feeds with different categories of additives significantly reduces serum ALT levels (p < 0.001) compared with birds fed only a contaminated diet. Inorganic binder (P-score 0.8615) was ranked to be the most efficient in terms of counteracting the toxic effect of aflatoxins, followed by antioxidant (P-score 0.6159) and organic binder (P-score 0.5018). These findings will have significant importance for farmers, veterinarians, and animal nutrition companies when deciding which type of additives to use for mitigating exposure to aflatoxins, thus improving food security and the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in developing countries.

Evaluation of the efficacy of humic acids to counteract the toxic effects of aflatoxin B1 in turkey poults

“…Due to its highly hydrophobic surfaces and a wide range of negatively charged functional groups ( 31 ), interactions between HA and AFB 1 can occur through various mechanisms. Tan ( 9 ) has identified seven potential binding mechanisms for HA with gaseous, liquid, and solid components, which include (i) physical forces, (ii) chemical forces, (iii) hydrogen bonds, (iv) hydrophobic interactions, (v) electrostatic interactions, (vi) coordination reactions, and (vii) ligand exchange. Among these mechanisms, electrostatic interactions and hydrogen bonding play crucial roles in the HA-AFB1 interaction.…”

“…Several physical, chemical, and biological techniques have been employed to decontaminate agricultural commodities with good results, but their implementation has been limited by uncertainty about their in vivo effectiveness ( 7 ). One practical approach is the utilization of non-nutritive adsorbent materials, which can effectively bind mycotoxins and inhibit their absorption in the gastrointestinal tract ( 8 ), thereby reducing their toxic impact on poultry and minimizing the carryover of these fungal metabolites into poultry products such as meat-end eggs ( 9 ). However, not all adsorbents exhibit significant effectiveness, and some of them have been found to hinder nutrient utilization.…”

Aflatoxin M1 removal from milk using activated carbon and bentonite combined with lactic acid bacteria cells

“…Additionally, all these adsorbents are already in use as a part of animal diet for aflatoxin adsorption and are cost‐effective (Kolawole et al . 2022). Their use in the form of composite filters for treatment of milk contaminated with excess levels of AFM 1 after optimisation of process is expected not to add much in terms of cost for the manufacturers and the customers.…”

“…However, there are no regulatory restrictions on using activated carbon and bentonite as processing aids in direct contact with the food product being processed, but these processing aids must not be a source of contamination for lead in the final product (Codex Alimentarius Commission 2021). Additionally, all these adsorbents are already in use as a part of animal diet for aflatoxin adsorption and are cost-effective (Kolawole et al 2022). Their use in the form of composite filters for treatment of milk contaminated with excess levels of AFM 1 after optimisation of process is expected not to add much in terms of cost for the manufacturers and the customers.…”

New perspectives in application of kidney biomarkers in mycotoxin induced nephrotoxicity, with a particular focus on domestic pigs

“…Regulated levels in cereal grains used for animal feeds for AFs is 20 μg/ kg [Regulation EC 574/2011(EU-COM 2014/015, 2014] and 250 μg/kg for OTA [Recommendation EC 2006/576;EC (European Comission), 2006]. Besides the appropriate pre-and postharvest technologies toxic effects of mycotoxins can be mitigated with different mycotoxin binding agents (Kolawole et al, 2022), such as algal polysaccharides (Guo et al, 2021;Liu et al, 2022b) or biodegradation by probiotic bacteria (Park et al, 2022). Additionally, antioxidants can reduce some toxic effects of mycotoxins (Liu et al, 2022a,b).…”