Impact of a Natural Fusarial Multi-Mycotoxin Challenge on Broiler Chickens and Mitigation Properties Provided by a Yeast Cell Wall Extract and a Postbiotic Yeast Cell Wall-Based Blend.

Yeast cell wall-based preparations have shown efficacy against Aspergillus-based toxins but have lower impact against type-B trichothecenes. Presently, we investigated a combination of deoxynivalenol (DON), T-2 toxin (T2) and zearalenone (ZEA), and the effect of a yeast cell wall extract (YCWE) and a post-biotic yeast cell wall-based blend (PYCW) with the objectives of preventing mycotoxins' negative effects in commercial broilers. A total of 720 one-day-old male Cobb broilers were randomly allocated to: (1) control diet, (aflatoxins 6 µg/kg; cyclopiazonic acid 15 µg/kg; fusaric acid 25 µg/kg; fumonisin B1 310 µg/kg); (2) Diet1 + 0.2% YCWE; (3) Diet1 + 0.2% PYCW; (4) Contaminated diet (3.0 mg/kg DON; 2.17 mg/kg 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol; 104 g/kg T2; 79 g/kg ZEA); (5) Diet4 + 0.2% YCWE; and (6) Diet4 + 0.2% PYCW. Naturally contaminated diets adversely affected performance, serum biochemistry, liver function, immune response, altered cecal SCFA goblet cell count and architecture of intestinal villi. These adverse effects were reduced in birds fed PYCW and to a lesser extent YCWE, indicating protection against toxic assault. PYCW yielded better production performance and stimulated liver function, with higher response to NDV and IBV vaccination. Furthermore, mycotoxins were found to affect production outputs when evaluated with the European poultry production efficiency factor compared to control or YCWE and PYCW supplemented treatments. Taken together, YCWE, when complemented with nutritional add-ons (PYCW), could potentiate the remediation of the negative effects from a multi mycotoxins dietary challenge in broiler birds.

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.