Impact of Mycotoxins on Animals' Oxidative Status.

Mycotoxins appear to be the "Achilles' heel" of the agriculture sector inducing enormous economic losses and representing a severe risk to the health of humans and animals. Although novel determination protocols have been developed and legislation has been implemented within Europe, the side effects of mycotoxins on the homeostatic mechanisms of the animals have not been extensively considered. Feed mycotoxin contamination and the effects on the antioxidant status of livestock (poultry, swine, and ruminants) are presented. The findings support the idea that the antioxidant systems in both monogastrics and ruminants are challenged under the detrimental effect of mycotoxins by increasing the toxic lipid peroxidation by-product malondialdehyde (MDA) and inhibiting the activity of antioxidant defense mechanisms. The degree of oxidative stress is related to the duration of contamination, co-contamination, the synergetic effects, toxin levels, animal age, species, and productive stage. Since the damaging effects of MDA and other by-products derived by lipid peroxidation as well as reactive oxygen species have been extensively studied on human health, a more integrated monitoring mechanism (which will take into account the oxidative stability) is urgently required to be implemented in animal products.

Quercetin and Egg Metallome.

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of the natural flavonoid quercetin dietary supplementation on the alteration of egg metallome by applying the basic principles of elemental metabolomics. One hundred and ninety-two laying hens were allocated into 4 treatment groups: the control (C) group that was fed with a commercial basal diet and the other experimental groups that were offered the same diet further supplemented with quercetin at 200, 400 and 800 mg per kg of feed (Q2, Q4 and Q8 group, respectively) for 28 days. The diets contained the same vitamin and mineral premix, thus all birds received the same amount of elements since no differences on feed intake existed. The egg elemental profile consisted of As, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se, Sr, V, Zn and was determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Quercetin supplementation altered the elemental profile. Most notably, quercetin altered the element concentrations predominantly in egg shell and albumen. It increased the concentration of Sb while reduced that of Cr and Se in both egg shell and albumen. Moreover, it increased As, Cd in albumen and V in yolk, while compared to the control, reduced As, Cd, Cr, Cu and V and also raised Ca, Fe, Mg and Ni in egg shell. The presence of quercetin led to differentiation of the deposition of certain trace minerals in egg compartments compared to that of hens fed a basal diet, possibly indicating that tailor made eggs for specific nutritional and health requirements could be created in the future.