Effect of dietary supplementation of mannanoligosaccharides on hepatic gene expressions and humoral and cellular immune responses in aflatoxin-contaminated broiler chicks

Microalgae: A promising strategy for aflatoxin control in poultry feeds

Aflatoxins are toxic compounds produced by certain molds, primarily Aspergillus species, which can contaminate crops such as grains and nuts. These toxins pose a significant health risk to animals and humans. Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is the most potent of these compounds and has been well-characterized to lead to diminished growth and feed efficiency by disrupting nutrient absorption and metabolism in poultry. AFB1 can trigger apoptosis and inflammation, leading to a decline in immune function and changes in blood biochemistry in poultry. Recently, there has been growing interest in using microalgae as a natural antioxidant to mitigate the effects of aflatoxins in poultry diets. Microalgae have strong antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-apoptotic, and anti-inflammatory properties, and adding them to aflatoxin-contaminated poultry diets has been shown to improve growth and overall health. This review investigates the potential of microalgae, such as Spirulina platensis, Chlorella vulgaris, and Enteromorpha prolifera, to mitigate AFB1 contamination in poultry feeds. These microalgae contain substantial amounts of bioactive compounds, including polysaccharides, peptides, vitamins, and pigments, which possess antioxidant, antimicrobial, and detoxifying properties. Microalgae can bind to aflatoxins and prevent their absorption in the gastrointestinal tract of poultry. They can also enhance the immune system of poultry, making them more resilient to the toxic effects of AFB1. Based on the data collected, microalgae have shown promising results in combating AFB1 contamination in poultry feeds. They can bind to aflatoxins, boost the immune system, and improve feed quality. This review emphasizes the harmful effects of AFB1 on poultry and the promising role of microalgae in reducing these effects.

Are spiritual, ethical, and eating qualities of poultry meat influenced by current and frequency during electrical water bath stunning?

With the continuous rise of Muslim and Jewish populations and their increasing preference for ritually slaughtered poultry meat, the industry is forced to redefine its existing product-centric quality standard toward a new consumer-centric dimension of quality. The new dimension is mainly attributed to ensuring animal welfare and ethical treatment (ethical quality), spiritual quality (such as halal status, cleanliness), and eating quality standards set by religion. To meet consumer quality requirements while maintaining high production performance, the industry has incorporated newer technologies that are compatible with religious regulations such as stunning methods like electrical water bath stunning. However, the introduction of new techniques such as electrical water bath stunning has been met with mixed reactions. Some religious scholars have banned the use of any stunning methods in religious slaughter, as halal status is believed to be compromised in cases where birds have been stunned to death before slaughter. Nevertheless, some studies have shown the positive side of the electrical water bath stunning procedure in terms of preserving eating, ethical, and spiritual quality. Therefore, the present study aims to critically analyze the application of various aspects of electrical water bath stunning such as current intensity and frequency on various quality attributes, namely, ethical, spiritual, and eating quality of poultry meat.

The Preferential Therapeutic Potential of Chlorella vulgaris against Aflatoxin-Induced Hepatic Injury in Quail

Aflatoxins (AFs) are the most detrimental mycotoxin, potentially hazardous to animals and humans. AFs in food threaten the health of consumers and cause liver cancer. Therefore, a safe, efficient, and friendly approach is attributed to the control of aflatoxicosis. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the impacts of Chlorella vulgaris (CLV) on hepatic aflatoxicosis, aflatoxin residues, and meat quality in quails. Quails were allocated into a control group; the CLV group received CLV (1 g/kg diet); the AF group received an AF-contaminated diet (50 ppb); and the AF+CLV group received both treatments. The results revealed that AF decreased the growth performance and caused a hepatic injury, exhibited as an increase in liver enzymes and disrupted lipid metabolism. In addition, AF induced oxidative stress, exhibited by a dramatic increase in the malondialdehyde (MDA) level and decreases in glutathione (GSH) level, superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities. Significant up-regulation in the inflammatory cytokine (TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6) mRNA expression was also documented. Moreover, aflatoxin residues were detected in the liver and meat with an elevation of fat% alongside a decrease in meat protein%. On the other hand, CLV supplementation ameliorated AF-induced oxidative stress and inflammatory condition in addition to improving the nutritional value of meat and significantly reducing AF residues. CLV mitigated AF-induced hepatic damage, decreased growth performance, and lowered meat quality via its antioxidant and nutritional constituents.

Protective and detoxifying effects conferred by selenium against mycotoxins and livestock viruses: A review

Animal feed can easily be infected with molds during production and storage processes, and this can lead to the production of secondary metabolites, such as mycotoxins, which eventually threaten human and animal health. Furthermore, livestock production is also not free from viral infections. Under these conditions, the essential trace element, selenium (Se), can confer various biological benefits to humans and animals, especially due to its anticancer, antiviral, and antioxidant properties, as well as its ability to regulate immune responses. This article reviews the latest literature on the antagonistic effects of Se on mycotoxin toxicity and viral infections in animals. We outlined the systemic toxicity of mycotoxins and the primary mechanisms of mycotoxin-induced toxicity in this analysis. In addition, we pay close attention to how mycotoxins and viral infections in livestock interact. The use of Se supplementation against mycotoxin-induced toxicity and cattle viral infection was the topic of our final discussion. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which is currently causing a health catastrophe, has altered our perspective on health concerns to one that is more holistic and increasingly embraces the One Health Concept, which acknowledges the interdependence of humans, animals, and the environment. In light of this, we have made an effort to present a thorough and wide-ranging background on the protective functions of selenium in successfully reducing mycotoxin toxicity and livestock viral infection. It concluded that mycotoxins could be systemically harmful and pose a severe risk to human and animal health. On the contrary, animal mycotoxins and viral illnesses have a close connection. Last but not least, these findings show that the interaction between Se status and host response to mycotoxins and cattle virus infection is crucial.

Ameliorative effect of nanocurcumin and Saccharomyces cell wall alone and in combination against aflatoxicosis in broilers

Background

The adverse effect of aflatoxin in broilers is well known. However, dietary supplementation of Saccharomyces cell wall and/or Nanocurcumin may decrease the negative effect of aflatoxin B1 because of the bio-adsorbing feature of the functional ingredients in Yeast Cell Wall and the detoxification effect of curcumin nanoparticles. The goal of this study was to see how Saccharomyces cell wall/Nanocurcumin alone or in combination with the aflatoxin-contaminated diet ameliorated the toxic effects of aflatoxin B1 on broiler development, blood and serum parameters, carcass traits, histology, immune histochemistry, liver gene expression, and aflatoxin residue in the liver and muscle tissue of broilers for 35 days. Moreover, the withdrawal time of aflatoxin was measured after feeding the aflatoxicated group an aflatoxin-free diet. Broiler chicks one day old were distributed into five groups according to Saccharomyces cell wall and/or nanocurcumin with aflatoxin supplementation. The G1 group was given a formulated diet without any supplements. The G2 group was supplemented with aflatoxin (0.25 mg/kg diet) in the formulated diet. The G3 group was supplemented with aflatoxin (0.25 mg/kg diet) and Saccharomyces cell wall (1 kg/ton diet) in the formulated diet. The G4 group was supplemented with aflatoxin (0.25 mg/kg diet) and nanocurcumin (400 mg/kg) in the formulated diet. The G5 group was supplemented with aflatoxin (0.25 mg/kg diet) and Saccharomyces cell wall (1 kg/ton diet) in combination with nanocurcumin (200 mg/kg) in the formulated diet.

Results

According to the results of this study, aflatoxin supplementation had a detrimental impact on the growth performance, blood and serum parameters, carcass traits, and aflatoxin residue in the liver and muscle tissue of broilers. In addition, aflatoxin supplementation led to a liver injury that was indicated by serum biochemistry and pathological lesions in the liver tissue. Moreover, the shortening of villi length in aflatoxicated birds resulted in a decrease in both the crypt depth ratio and the villi length ratio. The expression of CYP1A1 and Nrf2 genes in the liver tissue increased and decreased, respectively, in the aflatoxicated group. In addition, the aflatoxin residue was significantly (P ≤ 0.05) decreased in the liver tissue of the aflatoxicated group after 2 weeks from the end of the experiment.

Conclusion

Saccharomyces cell wall alone or with nanocurcumin attenuated these negative effects and anomalies and improved all of the above-mentioned metrics.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12917-022-03256-x.

Effect of Dietary L-Threonine and Toxin Binder on Performance, Blood Parameters, and Immune Response of Broilers Exposed to Aflatoxin B1

To evaluate the effect of L-Threonine (L-Thr) and Mycofix® Plus (MP) on aflatoxicosis, an experiment with a 3-way ANOVA model was carried out with 8 replicates and 640 birds. Treatments included two levels of L-Thr (100% and 125% of the requirements, Cobb 500, Cobb-Vantress), Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) (0, 500 ppb), and MP (0, 1 g/kg). As the main effects showed, AFB1 decreased breast meat yield and carcass percentage (p < 0.001), serum urea, antibody titer against infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), and bone density (p < 0.05), while it increased the plasma concentrations of glucose and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) (p < 0.05). Mycofix Plus improved the grower feed intake (FI), tibia fresh weight, and body weight (BW) to bone weight (p < 0.05). L-Threonine increased the grower FI, breast meat yield, serum aspartate transaminase (AST), and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) (p < 0.05). There were positive interactions with breast meat yield, cholesterol, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and IBV titer. Of the treatments used, the combination of L-Thr and MP without AFB1 improved breast meat and carcass percentage. L-Threonine and MP significantly improved IBV titer in birds challenged with AFB1 (p < 0.001). In conclusion, L-Thr and MP were beneficial to improve immunity.

The Efficacy of a Smectite-Based Mycotoxin Binder in Reducing Aflatoxin B1 Toxicity on Performance, Health and Histopathology of Broiler Chickens

The aim of the experiment was to investigate the efficacy of a smectite-based clay binder (Toxo-MX) in reducing the toxicological effects of aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁) in commercial broiler chickens. A total of 450 one-day old male broiler chickens were randomly allocated into three treatment groups with ten replicates of 15 birds each in a 42-day feeding experiment. The dietary treatments included a negative control (NC, a basal diet with no AFB₁ and binder), a positive control (PC, a basal diet contaminated with 500 ppb of AFB₁) and a smectite-based mycotoxin binder(Toxo-MX, PC with smectite clay binder). AFB₁ challenge resulted in 14 to 24% depression in growth performance, elevated levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), organ enlargement and immuno-suppression.As compared to PC, feeding of Toxo-MX improved the final weight (15%; p < 0.0001), average daily gain (ADG) (15%; p < 0.001) and feed efficiency of broilers (13%; p < 0.0003) but did not have any effects on liver enzyme activities. Supplementation of smectite claysignificantly increased serum globulin levels and reduced the weight of the liver (p < 0.05) as compared to AFB₁-fed broiler chickens. The severity of lesions (inflammatory and degenerative changes) observed in the liver, kidney, heart, pancreas, and lymphoid organs in PC birds was reduced by feeding smectite clay. The immuno-suppression caused by AFB₁ was moderately ameliorated in Toxo-MX groupby stimulating the production of antibodies against IBD at day 42 (p < 0.05). In conclusion, dietary supplementation of a smectite-based mycotoxin binder to the diet containing AFB₁ improved growth performance, reduced toxicological effects in liver and improved humoral immune response in broilers, suggesting its protective effect against aflatoxicosis.

Aflatoxins associated oxidative stress and immunological alterations are mitigated by dietary supplementation of Pichia kudriavzevii in broiler chicks

Mycotoxins are the secondary metabolites of certain toxigenic fungi which pose severe health stress in humans, animals and poultry. Certain biological agents and components are used to adsorb mycotoxins in poultry industry which provide promising results in this regard. Pichia kudriazevii (PK), a novel yeast, has the ability to enhance the immune status of poultry chicks. The present study was designed to investigate the ameliorative potential of PK against aflatoxins associated immunosuppression and oxidative stress in broiler chicks. 180-one day old broiler chicks were equally divided into six groups and given different combinations of aflatoxins (300 and 600 μg/kg) and PK (1 g/kg). Parameters studied were antibody response to sheep red blood cells, lymphoproliferative response to PHA-P; phagocytic response by carbon clearance assay system, total antioxidant capacity and total oxidant status of chicks. Results of this experiment confirmed the immunomodulation and antioxidant capacity of PK against 300 μg/kg aflatoxin level. However such amelioration was partial when PK was used with 600 μg/kg aflatoxins. Moreover, the exact ratio of aflatoxin: PK to cause such amelioration still needs to be investigated.

Interaction effects of sunflower oil and aflatoxin at graded levels in diet on performance, serum and tissue biochemical profile, organ weights and immuneresponse in broiler chicken

The dietary supplementation of fat has great potential in countering the toxic effects of aflatoxin (AF) in chickens, but the issue was less researched upon. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the response of broiler chickens to graded levels of AF B1 (0, 150 and 300 ppb) and sunflower oil (SFO) (0, 1.5 and 3.0%) in the diet in a 3 × 3 factorial manner to understand their interaction effects. A total of 360 broiler chickens divided into 9 equal groups were fed the diets during 0 to 35 days of age, and their response was evaluated in terms of performance, serum biochemical profile, organ weights, liver fat content and bone mineralization. Sunflower oil at 1.5% in diet countered (P ≤ 0.01) the adverse effects of 150 ppb AF on body weight, whereas at 300 ppb AF, such a response was seen at the higher level (3%) of SFO. Aflatoxin decreased (P ≤ 0.01) feed intake by 4 and 11% at 150 and 300 ppb concentration, respectively at 35 days of age, which was increased (P ≤ 0.01) with each incremental level of SFO supplementation (by 3.0 and 8.8%, respectively at 1.5 and 3%, respectively). Serum protein concentration increased (P ≤ 0.01) by SFO supplementation only at the higher concentration (300 ppb) of AF (by 42.4%), whereas total cholesterol and triglyceride concentration, and immune response to SRBC inoculation increased (P ≤ 0.01) with SFO at either level of AF (by 16.8, 18.7 and 75.6% at 1.5% SFO and 33.1, 36.9 and 94.2% at 3.0% SFO, respectively at 35 days of age). Weights of the liver, giblets, kidneys and pancreas increased (P ≤ 0.01) by 23.2, 14.7, 34.2 and 16.9%, respectively, and thymus weight decreased (P ≤ 0.04) by 25.4% with 300 ppb AF, and SFO at 3% in diet countered the effect on weight of the liver and giblets. Fat deposition in the liver increased (P ≤ 0.01) as the concentration of AF increased in diet (by 9.4 and 17.3%, respectively at 150 and 300 ppb AF), which was significantly (P ≤ 0.05) countered by SFO at 3% in diet. Tibia bone Ca content increased by 2.4% (P ≤ 0.01) with SFO supplementation in AF-fed chickens. It is concluded that dietary SFO supplementation countered the adverse effects of AF in broiler chicks in a dose-dependent manner, and higher level of oil (3% in diet) was required at the higher concentration of AF (300 ppb) in diet.

Mycotoxin and Gut Microbiota Interactions

The interactions between mycotoxins and gut microbiota were discovered early in animals and explained part of the differences in susceptibility to mycotoxins among species. Isolation of microbes present in the gut responsible for biotransformation of mycotoxins into less toxic metabolites and for binding mycotoxins led to the development of probiotics, enzymes, and cell extracts that are used to prevent mycotoxin toxicity in animals. More recently, bioactivation of mycotoxins into toxic compounds, notably through the hydrolysis of masked mycotoxins, revealed that the health benefits of the effect of the gut microbiota on mycotoxins can vary strongly depending on the mycotoxin and the microbe concerned. Interactions between mycotoxins and gut microbiota can also be observed through the effect of mycotoxins on the gut microbiota. Changes of gut microbiota secondary to mycotoxin exposure may be the consequence of the antimicrobial properties of mycotoxins or the toxic effect of mycotoxins on epithelial and immune cells in the gut, and liberation of antimicrobial peptides by these cells. Whatever the mechanism involved, exposure to mycotoxins leads to changes in the gut microbiota composition at the phylum, genus, and species level. These changes can lead to disruption of the gut barrier function and bacterial translocation. Changes in the gut microbiota composition can also modulate the toxicity of toxic compounds, such as bacterial toxins and of mycotoxins themselves. A last consequence for health of the change in the gut microbiota secondary to exposure to mycotoxins is suspected through variations observed in the amount and composition of the volatile fatty acids and sphingolipids that are normally present in the digesta, and that can contribute to the occurrence of chronic diseases in human. The purpose of this work is to review what is known about mycotoxin and gut microbiota interactions, the mechanisms involved in these interactions, and their practical application, and to identify knowledge gaps and future research needs.

Integration of Fe3O4@UiO-66-NH2@MON core-shell structured adsorbents for specific preconcentration and sensitive determination of aflatoxins against complex sample matrix

Aflatoxins have been a hot topic in the field related into public health and ecosystem protection, and great effort has been made in developing of adsorptive materials for effective probing the target aflatoxins. Conventional materials, like metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) showed promising application in separation science. However, the cumbersome separation process, competitive adsorption are also major challenges. Regarding this, a novel magnetic micro-composite denoted as Fe₃O₄@UiO-66-NH₂@MON with core-shell structure was constructed. The core of Fe₃O₄ microspheres was coated with MOFs crystals, and then microporous organic network (MON) was introduced onto the surface of Fe₃O₄@UiO-66-NH₂ through a sonogashira coupling reaction. It exhibited good magnetic separation ability, which effectively simplified the pre-treatment steps. The proposed method possessed excellent selectivity and sensitivity, with detection limits in the range of 0.15-0.87 μg L^-1 combination with HPLC analysis. More importantly, the MON coating significantly improved the hydro-stability of whole adsorbents, thus enhancing the adsorption efficiency and favoring the practical application of the materials. The developed Fe₃O₄@UiO-66-NH₂@MON-based solid extraction method has been well-applied for real sample analysis, with the recovery of 87.3%-101.8%. We believe the newly-constructed hybrid nano-adsorbents hold great potential in further application in various analytical methods for different target analytes.