• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.19 no.6
• /
• pp.877-883
• /
• 2006

A feeding trial was conducted on commercial broilers for a period of 35 days to determine the individual and combined effects of aflatoxin (AF) and T-2 toxin (T-2) on performance, organ weights and immune status. The efficacy of dietary glucomannan-containing yeast product (GYP) ($Mycosorb^{(R)}$) and hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate (HSCAS) in preventing the adverse effects of aflatoxin and T-2 toxin was also evaluated. Twelve dietary treatments ($4{\times}3$ factorial) comprising two dietary levels each of AF (0 and 2 mg/kg), T-2 toxin (0 and 1 mg/kg), GYP (0 and 1 kg/ton) and HSCAS (0 and 10 kg/ton) were tested on 720 commercial broiler chickens divided at random into 36 replicates of 20 chicks each (10 males and 10 females). Weight gain and feed intake were recorded weekly. Organ morphology and antibody titers for Newcastle disease (ND) and infectious bursal disease (IBD) were measured on the $35^{th}$ day. AF and T-2 toxin individually decreased weight gain and increased feed conversion ratio (FCR) (p<0.05). AF alone (p<0.05) increased weights of liver, kidney, gizzard and spleen and reduced thymus and bursal weights. T-2 toxin (p<0.05) increased liver and gizzard weights and decreased thymus weight. Both AF and T-2 toxin when fed individually affected ND and IBD titers in a significant manner. Significant interactions between AF and T-2 toxin were observed for their additive effects on weight gain, FCR, organ weights and antibody titers. Addition of GYP (p<0.05) improved weight gain, feed conversion efficiency and restored the organ weights. Antibody titers against ND and IBD were significantly improved with the supplementation of GYP. Supplementation of HSCAS (p<0.05) resulted in improvement in weight gain and restored organ weights in the groups fed AF alone, but not in T-2 toxin fed groups. HSCAS inclusion did not influence FCR in toxin fed groups. Addition of HSCAS (p<0.05) improved the antibody titers against ND and IBD only in AF fed groups. Thus, the results indicate that addition of GYP is effective in averting the individual and combined toxicity of aflatoxin and T-2 toxin in commercial broilers, while HSCAS is effective only against aflatoxin.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.72-79
• /
• 2006

1,225 healthy day-old avian broiler chicks were used to investigate the effects of activated charcoal (AC, made from willow tree), hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicates (HSCAS) and esterified glucomannan (EGM) supplementation on broiler performance, blood profiles and meat characteristics when less moldy or moldy corn was included to formulate seven isocaloric and isonitrogenous diets: Positive Control (less moldy corn diet, PC), PC+2% AC, Negative Control (moldy corn, NC), NC+0.05% EGM, NC+0.1% EGM, NC+0.5% HSCAS and NC+1% AC. PC+2% AC resulted in lower growth rate, poorer feed conversion ratio (FCR), more leg problems and higher mortality of birds than those fed PC diet (p<0.05). Inclusion of 0.05% EGM, 0.1% EGM, 0.5% HSCAS and 1% AC in NC diet did not improve average daily weight gain (ADG) or affect feed intake of birds during the first or the second three-week periods. However, 0.05% EGM tended to (p>0.05) and 0.1% EGM significantly (p<0.05) improved FCR during the first three-week period. Breast meat of NC birds had higher Minolta $L^*$ values (white) but lower $a^*$ (reddish) and $b^*$ (yellowish) values (p<0.01) than the PC birds. Addition of 0.05% EGM and 0.1% EGM in NC diet reduced the $L^*$ values (p<0.05), improved $a^*$ and $b^*$ values (p<0.05) of breast meat of birds fed NC diet, but had no effect on meat color when 0.5% HSCAS or 1% AC was included (p>0.05). Relative weight of liver to body was reduced by feeding NC diet (p<0.05) and could not be normalized by different mycotoxin adsorbents (p>0.05) to the ratio of the PC birds. Relative weight of cholecyst of NC birds was increased compared with PC birds and could only be normalized by addition of 0.05% EGM and 1% AC (p<0.05) in NC diet. NC birds had lower serum albumin level than the PC birds (p<0.05) and addition of 0.05% EGM or 1% AC in NC diet did normalize serum albumin level. Addition of 0.5% HSCAS in NC diet further reduced serum albumin, globulin, total protein and uric acid levels (p<0.05). It was concluded that lower FCR during the first three-week period of growth and deterioration of meat quality observed in bird fed moldy corn with moderate T2 and fuminisin contamination and damaged nutrients and pigment availability, might be improved by dietary supplementation of 0.05% to 0.1% EGM, but not by 1% AC or 0.5% HSCAS supplementation.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.250-257
• /
• 2011

An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of different mycotoxin adsorbents including esterified glucomannan (EGM), hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate (HSCAS) and compound mycotoxin adsorbent (CMA) on performance, blood parameters, and liver pathological changes in broilers fed mold-contaminated feed. Two hundred and forty 10-day-old broilers were randomly assigned to one of the five dietary treatments including: i) control diet; ii) mold-contaminated diet; iii) moldcontaminated diet+0.05% EGM; iv) mold-contaminated diet+0.2% HSCAS; v) mold-contaminated diet+0.1% CMA. At 35-days-old, blood and liver tissue samples were collected for analysis. 0.1% CMA improved ADG and ADFI during 10-42 d compared to the moldcontaminated group (p<0.05). The mold-contaminated diet increased total white blood cell (WBC) number, haemoglobin (Hgb) concentration, hematocrit (Hct) level, serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and ${\gamma}$-glutamyl transferase (GGT) activities, and decreased red blood cell (RBC) number and serum globulin (GLB) and urea nitrogen (BUN) concentrations (p<0.05). The three mycotoxin adsorbents alleviated the alteration of RBC, WBC, Hgb and AST caused by the mold-contaminated diet. Furthermore, 0.1% CMA increased GLB concentration and decreased Hct level and GGT activity (p<0.05). Liver superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was reduced, and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity was increased by the mold-contaminated diet (p<0.05). Both EGM and HSCAS prevented the increase of MPO activity (p<0.05). Liver lesion, including severe vacuolar degeneration of hepatocytes, was observed in chicks fed the mold-contaminated diet. 0.05% EGM prevented these effects except for biliary hyperplasia and mild vacuolar degeneration. 0.2% HSCAS showed medium vacuolar degeneration of hepatocytes. Liver of broilers fed 0.1% CMA revealed a mild vacuolar degeneration. These results indicate that a mold-contaminated diet results in adverse effects on blood parameters and liver morphology. 0.05% EGM and 0.2% HSCAS partially alleviated the adverse effects. However, 0.1% CMA almost completely ameliorated the adverse effects.