Evaluation of berberine efficacy in reducing the effects of aflatoxin B1 and ochratoxin A added to male broiler rations.

Many types of mycotoxins are found in food sources contaminated with fungi, and if these are ingested in large quantities or over a long period, they can affect the health of humans and domestic animals. Berberine (BBR) is a plant alkaloid with multiple pharmacological functions. This study aimed to investigate the effect of different levels of the plant alkaloid BBR on reducing toxic effects of aflatoxin B1 (AFB) and ochratoxin A (OTA) in broilers by examining performance characteristics, blood biochemistry, antioxidant systems, ileum morphology, and histopathology of the liver. The experiment was performed with 288 Ross 308 broilers reared in floor pens for 42 d in a randomized design with 9 treatments. Each treatment was replicated 4 times, and each replicate contained 8 chicks. Experimental treatments included (1) negative control diet with no additives (NC); (2) NC + 2 ppm AFB (positive control AFB; PCAFB); (3) NC + 2 ppm OTA (positive control OTA; PCOTA); (4) PCAFB + 200 mg/kg BBR; (5) PCAFB + 400 mg/kg BBR; (6) PCAFB + 600 mg/kg BBR; (7) PCOTA + 200 mg/kg BBR; (8) PCOTA + 400 mg/kg BBR; and (9) PCOTA + 600 mg/kg BBR. Compared with NC, feeding PCAFB and PCOTA diets reduced average daily feed intake, weight gain, serum concentrations of superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and the length and width of ileum villi (P < 0.05). At the same time, these parameters increased in birds fed PCAFB or PCOTA diets supplemented with 600 mg/kg of BBR (P < 0.05). Feeding PCAFB and PCOTA diets increased feed conversion ratio (FCR), serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) activities, serum urea, and liver lesions compared with NC. By contrast, compared with PCAFB and PCOTA, adding 600 mg/kg BBR decreased FCR, AST, LDH, ALT, and GGT activities, urea, and liver lesions (P < 0.05). Overall, supplementation with 600 mg/kg BBR may improve growth performance, liver function, and antioxidant status of broilers fed diets contaminated with AFB and OTA.

Effects of feed form and xylanase supplementation on metabolizable energy partitioning in broiler chicken fed wheat-based diets.

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of feed form and xylanase supplementation on the growth performance, energetic efficiencies, energy partitioning, and nitrogen (N) balance of Ross 308 male broilers fed wheat-based diets. The experiment was conducted as a 2 × 2 × 5 factorial arrangement with 2 levels of feed forms (mash or pellets) and xylanase (0 or 500 mg/kg), and five feeding levels (ad libitum, 85%, 70%, 55%, and 40% of ad libitum intake). Each of the 20 dietary treatments was fed to 5 replicate pens (5 birds/pen) from 22 to 42 days of age. A significant interaction between feed form and xylanase on was observed for average daily feed intake and heat production (p < 0.01). Pelleting and dietary supplementation with xylanase increased average daily gain and feed conversion ratio but decreased (p < 0.05) average daily feed intake. Broilers fed xylanase-supplemented diet ingested and pelleted diet retained more than in those fed the mash form or the diet without xylanase. Xylanase and pellets decreased (p < 0.01) heat production and metabolizable energy intake (MEI), but increased retained energy (p < 0.05). The birds fed xylanase also needed less MEI per gram of N retained than those fed the diets without enzyme (p < 0.01). Estimation of both metabolizable and net energy requirements for maintenance as a function of BW0.75 showed that requirements for broilers fed pelleted diet and xylanase-supplemented diet were lower than in those fed mash form or the diet without xylanase (p < 0.01). The higher energetic efficiencies for retention were estimated in the birds offered pelleted and xylanase-supplemented diets compared with the values determined for those fed the diet with mash form or the diet without xylanase (p < 0.05). The efficiency of energy utilization for protein for birds fed xylanase-supplemented diets was higher (p < 0.01) than those fed diets without xylanase, and fat deposition for broilers fed the pelleted diet was greater than those fed the mash diet (p < 0.01). Because MEI for maintenance requirements represents a large portion of the MEI, the results from this experiment could be considered in calculation of energy requirements for finishing broilers fed wheat-based diets.

Effects of milk thistle seed against aflatoxin B1 in broiler model.

BACKGROUND: Consumption of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) contaminated products can pose a risk of development of various diseases in human and animals due to radical production. The scope of this work is to evaluate the efficacy of milk thistle seed (MTS), as a radical scavenger, on serum biochemistry, lipid profile and liver enzymes against AFB1 in broiler chickens contaminated with AFB1. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The effect of nine experimental treatments (3 × 3 factorial design) was assessed using 216 one-d-old Ross 308 male broiler chicks in a randomized complete design with four replicates of six birds for each dietary treatments: Control (T1), 250 ppb AFB1 (T2), 500 ppb AFB1 (T3), 0.5% MTS (T4), 0.5% MTS Plus 250 ppb AFB1 (T5), 0.5% MTS Plus 500 ppb AFB1 (T6), 1.0% MTS (T7), 1.0% MTS Plus 250 ppb AFB1 (T8), and 1.0% MTS Plus 500 ppb AFB1 (T9). The individual and combined effects of dietary AFB1 and MTS on serum biochemistry factors (Glucose, Calcium, Phosphorus, Iron, Creatinine, and Uric acid), lipid profile (Triglyceride, Cholesterol, Low density lipoprotein (LDL), and High density lipoprotein (HDL)) and liver enzymes aspartate amino-transferase and alanine amino-transaminase (ALT) in broilers were evaluated at 21 days of age. Also, statistical packages Macros-1.002 (2010) were used to perform the above analysis on computer. RESULTS: Consumption of 500 ppb AFB1 in to the diet significantly decreased HDL (58.13 ± 2.65), Calcium (7.11 ± 0.13), and Glucose (197.1 ± 7.42) compared to the control group (85.12 ± 1.95, 9.45 ± 0.17 and 223.1 ± 6.61, respectively), (P < 0.05). In contrast, it significantly increased creatinine (2.25 ± 0.011) and AST (244.51 ± 4.91). Using MTS together with AFB1 significantly reduced the effect of AFB1 on the above parameters. CONCLUSION: MTS can provide protection against the negative effects of AFB1 on broiler chicks.