Short-term exposure to fumonisins and deoxynivalenol, on broiler growth performance and cecal Salmonella load during experimental Salmonella enteritidis infection

Authors: LIU, JUNDI - University Of Georgia; Shanmugasundaram, Revathi; DOUPOVEC, BARBARA - Biomin Research Center; DIAN, SCHATZMAYR - Biomin Research Center; GANAPATHI, RAJ MURGESAN - Biomin America, Inc; APPLEGATE, TODD - University Of Ferrara

Submitted to: Poultry Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/24/2023
Publication Date: 3/28/2023
Citation: Liu, J., Shanmugasundaram, R., Doupovec, B., Dian, S., Ganapathi, R., Applegate, T. 2023. Short-term exposure to fumonisins and deoxynivalenol, on broiler growth performance and cecal Salmonella load during experimental Salmonella enteritidis infection. Poultry Science. 102(6):102677. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2023.102677.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2023.102677

Interpretive Summary: Various measures of health were assessed in chickens that were fed poultry feed contaminated with levels of fumonisins (FUM) and deoxynivalenol (DON) below FDA recommended levels. These are two mycotoxins produced by fungi that infect and contaminate corn and other raw feed ingredients. According to the current study, broiler growth performance was adversely affected by short-term exposure to sub-clinical doses of mixed FUM and DON (14 mg/kg FUM and 0.6 mg/kg DON), T-2 toxin (0.6 mg/kg), and neosolaniol (0.8 mg/kg). Intestinal permeability and Salmonella colonization increased when these toxins were combined. In this experiment, the levels of fumonisins, deoxynivalenol, T2-toxin, and neosolaniol were typical of naturally contaminated diet. Additional research is needed improve our understanding of combined mycotoxins on the contamination of chicken with Salmonella.

Technical Abstract: Deoxynivalenol (DON) and fumonisins (FUM) are two common mycotoxins in poultry feed. Sal-monella Enteritidis is a primary foodborne bacterium in broilers. This trial was conducted to evaluate the effects of naturally occurring DON, FUM and their combination at subclinical doses on broiler performance during a S. enterica ser. enteritidis challenge. The experiment consisted of five treatments: NCC, non-challenge non-mycotoxin treatment; CC, Salmonella challenge + non-mycotoxin treatment; DON, DON 0.6 mg/kg + Salmonella challenge; FUM, FUM 14 mg/kg + Salmonella challenge; DON+FUM, DON 0.6 mg/kg + FUM 14 mg/kg treatment + T-2 toxin 0.6 mg/kg+ 0.8 mg/kg neosolaniol + Salmonella challenge. On d 4, birds were challenged with either 0 or 1 x 109 CFU/mL S. enteritidis orally. There were no significant effects on growth performance among treatments at 0, 3, 7, and 14 days of post-inoculation (dpi). On 14 dpi, the combined FUM and DON significantly increased the Salmonella load by 1.5 logs compared to the control groups (P < 0.05). FUM significantly increased the cecal tonsil IL-10 gene expression by 1.2-fold at 7 dpi (P < 0.05) and downregulated TNF-a by 1.8-fold on 14 dpi compared to the control, non-challenge groups (P < 0.05). On 7 dpi, the combined FUM + DON reduced occludin by 4.4-fold (P < 0.05) when compared to the control groups. Similarly, combined FUM + DON decreased zo-na-occluden transcription by 2.3 and 7.6-fold on 3 and 14 dpi, respectively (P < 0.05). Further-more, combined FUM+DON decreased Claudin-1 by 2.2-fold and Claudin-4 by 5.1-fold on 14 dpi when compared to the control groups (P < 0.05). In conclusion, short-term exposure to a sub-clinical dose of combined FUM (14.0 mg/kg), DON (0.6 mg/kg), T-2 toxin (0.6 mg/kg) and ne-osolaniol had an impact on broiler intestinal tight junction proteins, and cecal Salmonella abun-dance under experimental Salmonella challenge.