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ARS Home » Midwest Area » West Lafayette, Indiana » Livestock Behavior Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #268601
Title: Effects of increasing dietary concentrations of corn naturally contaminated with deoxynivalenol on broiler and turkey poult performance and response to lipopolysaccharide

Author
item XU, LITING - Purdue University
item Eicher, Susan
item APPLEGATE, TODD - Purdue University

Submitted to: Poultry Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/12/2011
Publication Date: 12/1/2011
Citation: Xu, L., Eicher, S.D., Applegate, T. 2011. Effects of increasing dietary concentrations of corn naturally contaminated with deoxynivalenol on broiler and turkey poult performance and response to lipopolysaccharide. Poultry Science. 90(12):2766-2774.

Interpretive Summary: Deoxynivalenol (DON) is a common mycotoxin found on feeds and affects all species, but poultry are sensitive to its effects. Two experiments determined the impacts of graded concentrations of DON on performance, intestinal morphology and innate immunity in broilers and turkeys. Curiously, feed consumption was not affected. A portion of the intestinal tract (epithelium) was increased in broilers only. In broilers, but not turkeys, the concentration of DON together with a bacterial cell wall component (lipopolysaccharide) altered white blood cells. The ability of immune cells, from the cecal tonsils (immune organ in poultry) of broilers, to ingest bacteria (S. aureus) was reduced with high DON concentration, but did not change in turkeys. Overall, intestinal epithelium and immunity was affected by DON in chickens, but did not affect any of the physiological or immune measures that were tested in turkeys. This research demonstrated that DON-contaminated feeds are minimally detrimental for turkeys, but may alter growth and immunity, indicating that measures to counter the mycotoxins would be warranted.

Technical Abstract: Deoxynivalenol (DON) is a common mycotoxin affecting all species, but poultry are especially sensitive to its effects. Two experiments determined the impacts of graded concentrations of deoxynivalenol (DON) on performance, intestinal morphology and innate immunity in broilers and turkeys. The 3-wk study used 5 concentrations of DON (up to 18 or 10mg/kg of DON in broilers and turkeys, respectively) from naturally contaminated corn. BW gains were cubically or quadratically affected by graded concentrations of dietary DON for broilers and turkeys, respectively. However, feed consumption was not affected. Birds were subsequently not injected or injected with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) 24 h prior to tissue and blood collection. Dietary DON had no effect on intestinal crypt depth, but linearly increased mid-ileal villus height of broilers (P=0.04). An interaction was observed between LPS challenge and DON in percentage of heterophils (H), percentage of lymphocytes (L) and H: L (P<0.05) in broilers but not turkeys. Cecal tonsil cell phagocytosis of FluoSpheres® microbeads was not affected by DON with or without LPS challenge for broilers and turkeys. Conversely, phagocytic capacity of cecal tonsil cells to killed S. aureus was significantly reduced over 2.5 fold when chicks were fed the highest DON (non-LPS challenged; P<0.05). However, DON had no effect when chicks were challenged with LPS. Antibody dependent phagocytosis was not affected in turkeys fed DON. Overall, corn naturally-contaminated with DON up to 18 (broiler) or 10 mg/kg (turkey) reduced BW gain at 21 d of age and reduced antibody dependent phagocytosis of a killed S. aureus by cecal tonsil cells in unchallenged chicks, and greatly decreased H:L ratios in LPS challenged broilers.