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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Athens, Georgia » U.S. National Poultry Research Center » Toxicology & Mycotoxin Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #424815
Research Project: Strategies to Reduce Mycotoxin Contamination in Animal Feed and its Effect in Poultry Production Systems

Location: Toxicology & Mycotoxin Research

Title: Effect of DL-methionine and MHA on the performance and gut health of aflatoxin-exposed broilers

Author
item GAYRARD, CECILE - Evonik Degussa Gmbh
item FUDGE, CATHERINE - University Of Georgia
item APPLEGATE, TODD - University Of Georgia
item Shanmugasundaram, Revathi

Submitted to: Poultry Science Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/23/2025
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: N/A

Technical Abstract: The effects of DL-methionine (DLMet) and methionine hydroxy analogue (MHA) on growth performance, detoxification enzyme levels and immune response in broilers exposed to aflatoxin (AFL) were investigated from 1 to 21 days of age. A total of 540 broilers were randomly assigned to 36 pens (15 birds/pen, 6 pens/treatment) and fed one of 6 treatments: controls (T1: DLMet; T2: MHA; both at recommended levels), T3: T1+200 µg/kg AFL, T4: T2+200 µg/kg AFL, T5: 0.2% DLMet above the recommended level + 200 µg/kg AFL; T6: 0.2% MHA above the recommended level +200 µg/kg AFL. DLMet was supplemented at a 65:100 ratio of MHA. One-way ANOVA was used to analyze the data, and the means were compared by Tukey's tests. Chi-squared test was used to analyze the mortality rate, with significance at P<0.05. The AFL-exposure did not increase mortality, which was 4% across treatments (P=0.44). At 7 days, body weight (BW) was unaffected by AFL (P=0.30), nor at 14 days (P=0.06). However, final BW was significantly (P=0.0005) lower in AFL-exposed birds (T3 to T6, mean: 743 g) compared to T1 (804 g). AFL exposure significantly increased the Feed conversion ratio (FCR) by 6 points in T3 (1.36, P=0.03) compared to T1 (1.30). Overall, using DLMet or MHA in feed resulted in similar BW, BWG and FCR between control groups (T1vs.T2) and between AFL-exposed groups (T3 vs. T4 vs. T5 vs. T6). T cell proliferation was similar between controls and AFL-exposed groups T3 and T4. However, the 0.2% additional supplementation of DLMet and MHA (T5 and T6) in AFL contaminated diets enhanced the ability to fight infection with increased T cell proliferation (P=0.0007). AFL contaminated diets increased serum AST activity (P<0.001), indicating liver and muscle damage, but these effects were reversed by the additional 0.2% DLMet and MHA (T5 and T6) supplementation. The hepatic Cytochrome p450 enzyme CYP1A1, was significantly reduced in AFL-exposed groups (P=0.0011, -0.8 folds) but the additional 0.2% increase in methionine-source increased CYP1A1 levels (+0.3 folds). Glutathione peroxidase (GSH) levels remained stable despite the presence of aflatoxin-, however the additional 0.2% MHA (T5, P=0.018) decreased the GSH. In conclusion, using DLMet at 65:100 of MHA resulted in similar growth performance to MHA-fed animals, regardless of AFL-exposure. AFL decreased growth performance compared to T1. Numerically, DLMet treatment (T1) had the best performance results. T cell proliferation and GSH were unaffected by AFL but influenced by methionine level and source, while AST activity and CYP1A1 expression were negatively impacted by AFL, with increases in methionine restoring their levels. An increase of DLMet may be recommended in AFL exposed broilers.