Effectiveness of Hydrated Sodium Calcium Aluminosilicates and Discarded Date Pits as Dietary Adsorbents for Aflatoxin B1 in Enhancing Broiler Chicken Productive Performance, Hepatic Function, and Intestinal Health

The research aimed to evaluate how effective hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicates (HSCASs) and discarded date pits (DDPs) are as dietary adsorbents for aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) in enhancing the performance and health of broiler chickens aged 16 to 30 days. A total of 240 Ross 308 straight-run broilers were randomly allocated into four dietary groups, each with 10 replicates: a control diet, a control diet with 1000 ppb AFB1, an AFB1-contaminated diet with 0.5% HSCAS, and an AFB1-contaminated diet with 4% DDP. Incorporating HSCASs or DDPs into the AFB1-contaminated diet resulted in significant improvements across various parameters, involving increased body weight, improved feed conversion ratio, higher dressing percentage, decreased relative weights of kidney and spleen, elevated serum levels of total protein, globulin, and glucose, reduced serum alanine aminotransferase activity, and heightened hepatic protein concentration and glutathione peroxidase activity, along with diminished hepatic malondialdehyde content and glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase activity. Moreover, both supplements led to increased ileal villus height and surface area, enhanced apparent nitrogen-corrected metabolizable energy digestibility, and decreased AFB1 residues in the liver and kidney. Moreover, the dietary inclusion of DDPs significantly decreased relative liver weight, raised serum albumin concentration, lowered serum alkaline phosphatase activity, enhanced hepatic total antioxidant capacity level, and augmented ileal villus width. Conversely, the dietary addition of HSCASs significantly heightened apparent crude protein digestibility. In conclusion, the inclusion of HSCASs and DDPs in AFB1-contaminated diets can mitigate the toxic effects of AFB1 on broiler chickens, with DDPs exhibiting additional advantages in optimizing liver function and gut morphology.

A meta-analysis of the effects of clay mineral supplementation on alkaline phosphatase, broiler health, and performance

The crucial constraint in the broiler production sector is feed efficiency; many feed additives have been widely employed to increase broiler growth. Nonetheless, some of these substances exacerbate health and animal-based food product safety concerns. This meta-analysis examines the effect of clay minerals on alkaline phosphatase (ALP), broiler health, and performance. Metadata was constructed from 369 data items that were harvested from 86 studies. The addition of clay minerals was set as a fixed effect and the difference between experiments was established as a random effect. The metadata were fitted using a linear mixed model. Due to the presence of clay minerals, growth performance as assessed by body weight (BW), average daily gain (ADG), and performance efficiency index (PEI) increased significantly (P < 0.01). In the total period, the increases of BW, ADG, and PEI were 4.12 g, 0.0714 g/d, and 0.648, respectively, per unit of clay minerals added. Clay minerals did not affect blood serum parameters (e.g., ALP and calcium). The IgA and IgM concentrations in the jejunum and ileum were significantly greater (P < 0.01) in the starter phase. Among clay minerals, broilers fed diets with aluminosilicate, halloysite, kaolin, and zeolite consistently exhibited higher (P < 0.05) BW, ADG, PEI, and lower feed conversion ratio (P < 0.05) in the finisher phase. Aluminosilicate was the only clay that increased (P < 0.05) secretory IgA concentration in both jejunum and ileum. In conclusion, clay minerals could be used as a growth promoter, especially during the finisher phase, without adversely affecting feed intake, liver function, and mineral metabolism in broiler chickens. Aluminosilicate was superior in improving the mucosal immunity status of broiler chickens.

Pathological effects of graded doses of aflatoxin B1 on the development of the testes in juvenile white leghorn males

Current experiment was planned to investigate the deleterious effects of the graded doses of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) on white leghorn male birds. For this purpose, one-hundred birds of 8 weeks of age were divided into 4 equal groups and reared on feed contaminated with different doses of AFB1 for 10 weeks. Group A was kept as a control group and was fed with normal toxin-free diet; groups B, C, and D were offered feed containing 100 ppb, 200 ppb, and 400 ppb of AFB1, respectively. The birds were euthanized at the 4th and 10th week of the experiment. Clinical signs, behavioral changes, absolute and relative organ weight of the testes, and sperm motility were measured. Cellular immune response was observed through carbon clearance assay (CCA), P-HAP, and antibody response against sheep red blood cells (SRBC). Results showed a dose-dependent decline in the immune response of birds with the increase in the level of AFB1 in the feed. A significant decrease in the serum levels of testosterone, prolactin, and LH were observed at the end of the study. Grossly, testicular size and volume were reduced in ABF1 fed birds, while histological examination showed moderate to severe necrosis of testicular parenchyma, with partial to complete arrest of spermatogenesis. Very few spermatozoa were found in group C, while they were almost absent in group D which was offered a diet containing 400 ppb AFB1. The motility of sperms was reduced in all treated groups except control. The abovementioned results showed that AFB1 had severe toxic effects on the reproductive and immunological parameters of WLH male birds in a dose-dependent manner.

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.

Could probiotics be the panacea alternative to the use of antimicrobials in livestock diets?

Probiotics are most frequently derived from the natural microbiota of healthy animals. These bacteria and their metabolic products are viewed as nutritional tools for promoting animal health and productivity, disease prevention and therapy, and food safety in an era defined by increasingly widespread antimicrobial resistance in bacterial pathogens. In contemporary livestock production, antimicrobial usage is indispensable for animal welfare, and employed to enhance growth and feed efficiency. Given the importance of antimicrobials in both human and veterinary medicine, their effective replacement with direct-fed microbials or probiotics could help reduce antimicrobial use, perhaps restoring or extending the usefulness of these precious drugs against serious infections. Thus, probiotic research in livestock is rapidly evolving, aspiring to produce local and systemic health benefits on par with antimicrobials. Although many studies have clearly demonstrated the potential of probiotics to positively affect animal health and inhibit pathogens, experimental evidence suggests that probiotics' successes are modest, conditional, strain-dependent, and transient. Here, we explore current understanding, trends, and emerging applications of probiotic research and usage in major livestock species, and highlight successes in animal health and performance.

Tetramethylpyrazine supplementation reduced Salmonella Typhimurium load and inflammatory response in broilers

The present study tested whether tetramethylpyrazine (TMP) supplementation could influence the growth performance, Salmonella Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) load, inflammasomes, cytokines, and chemokines in broilers. Treatments were a 2 × 2 factorial design, including negative control (NC), S. Typhimurium challenge (SC), and NC/SC + TMP (150 mg/kg of diet). The trial lasted for 28 D, and S. Typhimurium subclinical challenge was occurred on day 8. The results showed that S. Typhimurium challenge worsened (P < 0.05) growth performance, S. Typhimurium load in intestinal digesta and visceral tissues, intestinal inflammatory responses, and permeability compared to the NC treatment. TMP supplementation increased (P < 0.05) feed intake, weight gain, and feed efficiency by 4.3 to 12.0%, but decreased (P < 0.05) S. Typhimurium load by 5.4 to 45.8%, inflammasomes (caspase-1/3/9, gasdermin A/E, and nod-like receptor protein 3) by 25.0 to 59.0%, chemokines (C-C motif ligand 2 and C-X-C motif 10) by 40.2 to 47.2%, intestinal permeability by 28.2% compared to the SC treatment. The TMP also reduced inflammatory response by influencing tumor necrosis factor α, interleukin 1β/4/6. Factorial analysis indicated that TMP and SC were interactive (P < 0.05) on most parameters due to the more pronounced TMP effect in S. Typhimurium challenge groups. It is concluded that TMP can promote growth and mitigate S. Typhimurium infection by reducing the S. Typhimurium load and inflammatory response in broilers.

Harmful Effects and Control Strategies of Aflatoxin B₁ Produced by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus Strains on Poultry: Review

The presence of aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁) in poultry diets decreases the hatchability, hatchling weight, growth rate, meat and egg production, meat and egg quality, vaccination efficiency, as well as impairing the feed conversion ratio and increasing the susceptibility of birds to disease and mortality. AFB₁ is transferred from poultry feed to eggs, meat, and other edible parts, representing a threat to the health of consumers because AFB₁ is carcinogenic and implicated in human liver cancer. This review considers how AFB₁ produced by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus strains can affect the immune system, antioxidant defense system, digestive system, and reproductive system in poultry, as well as its effects on productivity and reproductive performance. Nutritional factors can offset the effects of AFB₁ in poultry and, thus, it is necessary to identify and select suitable additives to address the problems caused by AFB₁ in poultry.