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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #85127
Title: EFFICACY OF VARIOUS INORGANIC SORBENTS TO REDUCE THE TOXICITY OF AFLATOXIN AND T-2 TOXIN IN BROILER CHICKENS

Author
item Bailey, Richard
item Kubena, Leon
item Harvey, Roger
item Buckley, Sandra - Sandy
item ROTTINGHAUS, GEORGE - UNIV. OF MISSOURI

Submitted to: Poultry Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/24/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Mycotoxins are a naturally occurring problem in animal feed that can cause the poultry and livestock industry large financial losses. Inorganic clay and mineral based products, called sorbents, are on the market that, when added to the feed, are supposed to help reduce the negative effects of certain mycotoxins which may be present. However, some of these sorbents have only been evaluated in the test tube and need scientific testing in live animals to validate their actual utility to the food animal industry. The sorbents tested here had shown potential in the test tube to reduce the concentration of two mycotoxins, aflatoxin and T-2 toxin, in solutions. The results of the present feeding trials showed there was a difference in the ability of the sorbents tested on chicks to block the negative effects of aflatoxin and T-2 toxin. In the important area of body weight gain, one product showed some protection against aflatoxin toxicity. None of the products evaluated in our laboratory to this point have shown any significant protection against T-2 toxin. This type of research is of value to the poultry industry, in that it may identify sorbents which could afford some benefit in protecting animals against the adverse effects of mycotoxins.

Technical Abstract: Experiments were conducted to determine the efficacy of three inorganic sorbents, S1, S2 and S3, to reduce the toxicity of aflatoxins (AF) and T-2 toxin (T-2) in male broiler chickens from day of hatch to 21 days of age. The compounds had been purported to bind to AF and T-2 toxin in vitro . S1 and S2 were the same basic compound that had been stored under different conditions. In Experiments 1, 2, and 3, the appropriate diets were produced to contain no mycotoxins, the specific adsorbent at 0.5% of diet, AF alone at 5 mg/kg of diet, T-2 alone at 8 mg/kg of diet, AF at 5mg/kg of diet plus the specific sorbent at 0.5% of diet, or T-2 at 8 mg/kg of diet plus the specific sorbent at 0.5% of diet. The specific sorbents used were: a) Experiment 1, S1; b) Experiment 2, S1 and S2; and c) Experiment 3, S3. In Experiment 1 and Experiment 3, the S1 and S3 respectively, showed no protection against AF or T-2 toxin as measured by body weight gain (BWG) when compared to AF alone group. In Experiment 2, S1 showed no protection; however S2 reduced the effects of AF on BWG by 25% as compared to AF alone diet. The data demonstrate that under the conditions of our experiment: a) one of the sorbents provided some protection against aflatoxicosis; b) there was variability in protection against aflatoxicosis between two different samples of the same sorbent stored under different conditions; c) protection by the sorbents against the effects of T-2 toxin was not observed.