Aflatoxicosis in Pekin duckling and the effects of treatments with lycopene and silymarin

Detoxification of Aflatoxin B1 by Phytochemicals in Agriculture and Food Science

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), the most toxic and harmful mycotoxin, has a high likelihood of occurring in animal feed and human food, which seriously affects agriculture and food safety and endangers animal and human health. Recently, natural plant products have attracted widespread attention due to their low toxicity, high biocompatibility, and simple composition, indicating significant potential for resisting AFB1. The mechanisms by which these phytochemicals resist toxins mainly involve antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and antiapoptotic pathways. Moreover, these substances also inhibit the genotoxicity of AFB1 by directly influencing its metabolism in vivo, which contributes to its elimination. Here, we review various phytochemicals that resist AFB1 and their anti-AFB1 mechanisms in different animals, as well as the common characteristics of phytochemicals with anti-AFB1 function. Additionally, the shortcomings of current research and future research directions will be discussed. Overall, this comprehensive summary contributes to the better application of phytochemicals in agriculture and food safety.

Lycopene as a Therapeutic Agent against Aflatoxin B1-Related Toxicity: Mechanistic Insights and Future Directions

Aflatoxin (AFT) contamination poses a significant global public health and safety concern, prompting widespread apprehension. Of the various AFTs, aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) stands out for its pronounced toxicity and its association with a spectrum of chronic ailments, including cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disorders, and cancer. Lycopene, a lipid-soluble natural carotenoid, has emerged as a potential mitigator of the deleterious effects induced by AFB1 exposure, spanning cardiac injury, hepatotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, intestinal damage, and reproductive impairment. This protective mechanism operates by reducing oxidative stress, inflammation, and lipid peroxidation, and activating the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway, facilitating the activation of mitochondrial biogenesis, the endogenous antioxidant system, and the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)/kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (KEAP1) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1 (PGC-1) pathways, as well as regulating the activities of cytochrome P450 (CYP450) enzymes. This review provides an overview of the protective effects of lycopene against AFB1 exposure-induced toxicity and the underlying molecular mechanisms. Furthermore, it explores the safety profile and potential clinical applications of lycopene. The present review underscores lycopene's potential as a promising detoxification agent against AFB1 exposure, with the intent to stimulate further research and practical utilization in this domain.

Physicochemical properties, mechanism of action of lycopene and its application in poultry and ruminant production

Lycopene is a kind of natural carotenoid that could achieve antioxidant, anti-cancer, lipid-lowering and immune-improving effects by up-regulating or down-regulating genes related to antioxidant, anti-cancer, lipid-lowering and immunity. Furthermore, lycopene is natural, pollution-free, and has no toxic side effects. The application of lycopene in animal production has shown that it could improve livestock production performance, slaughter performance, immunity, antioxidant capacity, intestinal health, and meat quality. Therefore, lycopene as a new type of feed additive, has broader application prospects in many antibiotic-forbidden environments. This article serves as a reference for the use of lycopene as a health feed additive in animal production by going over its physical and chemical characteristics, antioxidant, lipid-lowering, anti-cancer, and application in animal production.

Therapeutic Effect of Natural Products and Dietary Supplements on Aflatoxin-Induced Nephropathy

Aflatoxins are harmful natural contaminants found in foods and are known to be hepatotoxic. However, recent studies have linked chronic consumption of aflatoxins to nephrotoxicity in both animals and humans. Here, we conducted a systematic review of active compounds, crude extracts, herbal formulations, and probiotics against aflatoxin-induced renal dysfunction, highlighting their mechanisms of action in both in vitro and in vivo studies. The natural products and dietary supplements discussed in this study alleviated aflatoxin-induced renal oxidative stress, inflammation, tissue damage, and markers of renal function, mostly in animal models. Therefore, the information provided in this review may improve the management of kidney disease associated with aflatoxin exposure and potentially aid in animal feed supplementation. However, future research is warranted to translate the outcomes of this study into clinical use in kidney patients.

Regression-derived optimal milk thistle in growing quail's diet

A study was conducted to evaluate the nutritional benefits of milk thistle (Silybum marianum) in quail nutrition as an additive containing antioxidant compounds such as silymarin. A total of 300, 14-d old Japanese quail chicks were randomly allotted to 5 treatments with 6 replicates and 10 birds each. The experimental diets, including a basal diet and 4 diets containing 10, 20, 30, and 40 g/kg milk thistle, were used from d 14 to 35 and spline and segmented models were applied to fit data. The optimized values of dietary milk thistle (breakpoints) for optimum amounts of serum albumin (ALB), total protein (TP), glucose (Glu), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), iron (Fe), and water holding capacity (WHC) in meat samples, as predicted by the regression models, were 24.14, 20.00, 20.00, 24.50, 20.00, 10.43, 23.75, and 25.85 g/kg of diet, respectively, based on maximum R2 and minimum Sy.x. While the breakpoints for minimum cooking loss, drip loss, malondialdehyde after 10 and 30 d (MDA10 and MDA30), triglyceride (TG), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), cholesterol (CHOL), uric acid (UA), and creatinine (CRT) were 27.00, 15.82, 15.78, 33.09, 27.39, 17.99, 20.00, 20.00, 20.90, and 32.57 g/kg of diet, respectively. The use of spline models revealed an objective estimate of the optimal amounts of milk thistle for optimizing physiological responses in growing quails. The present analysis showed that higher dietary levels of milk thistle were needed for optimizing meat quality compared to other physiological responses.

Research Progress on Lycopene in Swine and Poultry Nutrition: An Update

Oxidative stress and in-feed antibiotics restrictions have accelerated the development of natural, green, safe feed additives for swine and poultry diets. Lycopene has the greatest antioxidant potential among the carotenoids, due to its specific chemical structure. In the past decade, increasing attention has been paid to lycopene as a functional additive for swine and poultry feed. In this review, we systematically summarized the latest research progress on lycopene in swine and poultry nutrition during the past ten years (2013-2022). We primarily focused on the effects of lycopene on productivity, meat and egg quality, antioxidant function, immune function, lipid metabolism, and intestinal physiological functions. The output of this review highlights the crucial foundation of lycopene as a functional feed supplement for animal nutrition.

Restoring Activity of Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum L.) on Serum Biochemical Parameters, Oxidative Status, Immunity, and Performance in Poultry and Other Animal Species, Poisoned by Mycotoxins: A Review

Grains are major farm animals' diet ingredients, and one of the main concerns is when are mycotoxin (MyT) contaminated, compromising animals' health, performance, and product safety. Among the natural phytocompounds that are being used to prevent MyT damage, silymarin (SIL), an extract from the seed of the milk thistle (MT) is a suitable candidate. This review aims to examine the scientific evidence concerning the anti-MyT toxicity effects of MT/SIL in poultry and livestock. In vitro and in vivo studies (n = 27) showed that MT whole plant, seed, or SIL-standardized extract had positive effects on animal health, performance, and restoring the hepatic activity, with a reduction of organ lesions caused by MyT. Furthermore, showed utility for combating MyT-immunodepression, improving intestinal health, and limiting the excretion of toxins residues in food of animal origin, although in some cases, MT/SIL supplementation does not produce appreciable effects. The use of MT in animal nutrition can be useful since the bioactive compounds, also if present in variable amounts, can help the animals to counteract the effects of MyT. The use of the phytoextract of SIL, due to its cost, can be useful if it reported the specific bioactive compounds, recognize for their pharmacological activities.

Progress on the detoxification of aflatoxin B1 using natural anti-oxidants

Aflatoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by Aspergillus fungi. The most toxic among them is Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) which is known to have genotoxic, immunotoxic, teratogenic, carcinogenic, and mutagenic toxic effects (amongst others). The mechanisms responsible for its toxicity include the induction of oxidative stress, cytotoxicity, and DNAdamage. Studies have found that natural anti-oxidants can reduce the damage that AFB1 inflicts on the body by alleviating oxidative stress and inhibiting the biotransformation of AFB1. Therefore, this review outlines the latest progress in research on the use of natural anti-oxidants as antidotes to aflatoxin poisoning and their detoxification mechanisms. It also considers the problems that may possibly arise from their use and their application prospects. Our aim is to provide a useful reference for the prevention and treatment of AFB1 poisoning.

Silybin and its congeners: from traditional medicine to molecular effects

Covering: 2015 up to 2022 (Feb)Silymarin, an extract of milk thistle (Silybum marianum) fruits, has been used in various medicinal applications since ancient times. A major component of silymarin is the flavonolignan silybin and its relatives isosilybin, silychristin, silydianin, 2,3-dehydrosilybin, and some others. Except for silydianin, they occur in nature as two stereomers. This review focuses on recent developments in chemistry, biosynthesis, modern advanced analytical methods, and transformations of flavonolignans specifically reflecting their chirality. Recently described chemotypes of S. marianum, but also the newest findings regarding the pharmacokinetics, hepatoprotective, antiviral, neuroprotective, and cardioprotective activity, modulation of endocrine functions, modulation of multidrug resistance, and safety of flavonolignans are discussed. A growing number of studies show that the respective diastereomers of flavonolignans have significantly different activities in anisotropic biological systems. Moreover, it is now clear that flavonolignans do not act as antioxidants in vivo, but as specific ligands of biological targets and therefore their chirality is crucial. Many controversies often arise, mainly due to the non-standard composition of this phytopreparation, the use of various undefined mixtures, the misattribution of silymarin vs. silybin, and also the failure to consider the chemistry of the respective components of silymarin.

Tomato pomace as a nontraditional feedstuff: productive and reproductive performance, digestive enzymes, blood metabolites, and the deposition of carotenoids into egg yolk in quail breeders

This study aimed to evaluate the inclusion of tomato pomace (TP) into Japanese quail breeders' diet by investigating its effects on digestive enzymes, immune response, antioxidant status, blood biomarkers, productive performance, and the deposition of carotenoids into the egg yolk. A total of 150 mature 8-wk of age Japanese quails (100 females and 50 males) were allocated into 5 treatment groups, with 5 replicates, each of 6 quails (4 females and 2 males). The experimental diets were isoenergetic and isonitrogenous, based on corn and soybean meal, and included 0, 3, 6, 9, and 12% of tomato pomace, respectively. The results showed that dietary supplementation of tomato pomace up to 12% significantly improved the immune response, antioxidant response, and digestive enzymes of Japanese quail breeders, significantly decreased cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and increased high-density lipoprotein (HDL). Also, TP increased egg weight, egg mass and hatchability , where TP 6% had the greatest egg weight, egg mass and hatchability among other groups. Moreover, tomato pomace inclusion significantly had a positive effect on the deposition of lycopene into the egg yolk and it can be used as a good delivery system to improve human health. Tomato pomace up to 12% could be used as an alternative feedstuff in quail breeders' diets.

The Effect of Mycotoxins and Silymarin on Liver Lipidome of Mice with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Milk thistle-based dietary supplements have become increasingly popular. The extract from milk thistle (Silybum marianum) is often used for the treatment of liver diseases because of the presence of its active component, silymarin. However, the co-occurrence of toxic mycotoxins in these preparations is quite frequent as well. The objective of this study was to investigate the changes in composition of liver lipidome and other clinical characteristics of experimental mice fed by a high-fat methionine-choline deficient diet inducing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. The mice were exposed to (i) silymarin, (ii) mycotoxins (trichothecenes, enniatins, beauvericin, and altertoxins) and (iii) both silymarin and mycotoxins, and results were compared to the controls. The liver tissue extracts were analyzed by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry. Using tools of univariate and multivariate statistical analysis, we were able to identify 48 lipid species from the classes of diacylglycerols, triacylglycerols, free fatty acids, fatty acid esters of hydroxy fatty acids and phospholipids clearly reflecting the dysregulation of lipid metabolism upon exposure to mycotoxin and/or silymarin.