Immunosuppression caused by mycotoxins – the hidden enemy

by DI Inês Rodrigues, Product Manager Mycofix® Product Line, BIOMIN Holding GmbH, Herzogenburg, Austria.

t is not easy to detect or diag- hibition of protein synthesis. nose problems related to my- As for ochratoxin A, in 1984, cotoxins as their effects in Dwivedi and Burns investigated animals are diverse, varying from immunoglobulin concentration in immunosuppression to death in se- birds’ sera and found out that this I was lower in ochratoxin A fed vere cases, depending on toxin-re- lated (type of mycotoxin birds than in control sera. consumed, level and duration of Ochratoxin A in combination intake), animal-related (species, with salmonella increased the sex, age, breed, general health, im- mortality rate of the challenged mune status, nutritional standing) broiler chicks by 13.2% and environmental (farm manage- (Elissalde, 1994). Layers were ment, hygiene, temperature) fac- more susceptible to typhimurium tors. colonisation (Fukata et al., 1995). When an animal is exposed to a In 2003, the presence of ochra- harmful agent its immune system toxin A increased mortality and will make all the efforts to elimi- the severity of an E. coli infection nate the foreign organism and to in broiler chicks (Kumar et al., counteract its negative effects. 2003) and S. gallinarum infection Animals which are fed myco- in the absence of ochratoxin A toxin-contaminated diets will have caused 11.5% mortality, which in- a reduced response as these toxic creased to 28.8% in the presence substances disrupt the body’s nor- of ochratoxin A in broiler chicks mal immune mechanism. diets (Gupta et al., 2005). Some effects of mycotoxins can- Trichothecenes were also re- not be immediately detected by vi- ported to impact the immune sys- sual examination; however they tem. Deoxynivalenol reduced are revealed when animals are, for Newcastle disease humoral titers instance, faced with infectious of 18 week old pullets and de- agents. Immunosuppression is one creased the stimulation index of of these effects, as confirmed by splenocytes of broiler pullets (Har- several scientific works. vey R. B., 1991). T-2 toxin was Immunosuppression is observed also shown to be cytotoxic to in livestock ingesting mycotoxins chicken macrophages in vitro at levels below that which cause (Kidd et al., 1997). toxic effects. Aflatoxins, ochratox- In practical terms, the above ins and trichothecenes – all these mentioned effects of mycotoxins toxic compounds are known to de- in the immune system may seri- crease the resistance of animals ously impact the health status of a rendering them more susceptible farm, not only by increasing the to diseases (Ghosh et al., 1990; susceptibility of animals to dis- Sharma, 1991; Dwivedi and eases but also lowering the re- Burns, 1984; Leeson et al., 1995; sponse to vaccination programs. Singh et al., 1990; Harvey et al., Preventing these negative sub- 1991; Kidd et al., 1997). stances such as mycotoxins will In general, aflatoxins are the undoubtedly be more cost effec- tive than treating the diseases trig- most immune suppressive (CAST, n 2003). Aflatoxin B1 intoxication gered by such agents. in broilers impacts the cell-medi- References are available ated immunity by decreasing the from Biomin on request albumin and globulin (Ghosh et al., 1990) which is in accordance with the knowledge that aflatoxin exerts an important role in the in-

www.biomin.net [email protected] Gangrenous dermatitis (necrotic dermatitis)

by Gino Lorenzoni, DVM, MSC, PhD, Technical Manager, BIOMIN Holding GmbH, Herzogenburg, Austria.

angrenous dermatitis is an necrotic dermatitis. The authors acute infection of the sub- attribute the reduction of mortal- cutaneous tissue of broil- ity due to an improved general ers and turkeys. health condition of the birds In the USA this poultry disease treated with probiotics (Waneck et G al., 2009). causes severe economic losses due to mortality ranging from 1 to Recently, necrotic dermatitis has 2% per week in affected turkey been experimentally reproduced operations (Thachil et al., 2010). in turkeys following a single in- Gangrenous dermatitis has been travenous inoculation of C. sep- associated with the isolation of ticum (Tellez et al., 2009). The different bacteria from the subcu- experimental disease was also re- taneous lesions: C. perfringens, C. produced with a combined intra- septicum, C. sordellii, S. aureus, venous inoculation of C. septicum and E. coli (Ficken, 1991). and C. perfringens. Interestingly, Experimental necrotic dermatitis a cell free culture of C. septicum can be reproduced by injecting the induces neurological signs after listed bacteria subcutaneously injection but fails to produce skin with C. septicum being the most lesions or mortality in turkeys in- effective to induce the experimen- dicating that viable bacteria but tal lesions (Jeffrey et al., 2001; not the toxins alone are responsi- Tellez et al., 2009; Thachil et al., ble for the disease. 2010). For this reason, gan- Development of the disease via grenous dermatitis has been intravenous inoculation of the linked to the contamination of causative agent opens a door for skin lesions often associated with developing new theories that ex- low feeder and drinker space. plain the pathogenesis of the dis- As with many poultry diseases, ease. gangrenous dermatitis is also as- It could be possible that under sociated with immune suppressing favourable conditions intestinal diseases such as the infectious bacteria could leak through the in- bursal disease. Actually, measures testinal tract and via the systemic to control immune suppressive circulation reach subcutaneous diseases in a flock will often pro- tissues generating the disease duce a reduction in the incidence when the bacteria find the appro- of gangrenous dermatitis priate environment. Actually, le- (Willoughby et al., 1996). sions have been related to bruised Despite the general belief that areas on the skin which could be necrotic dermatitis is primarily explained by changes in the micro caused by contaminated skin le- environment of the subcutaneous tissue favouring the replication of sions, several producers have re- n ported continuous outbreaks of the bacteria (Tellez et al., 2009). the disease even after ameliorat- ing immune suppressing diseases, References are available correcting bird density and sup- From Biomin on request plying generous feeder and drinker space. Trials conducted by Biomin with the collaboration of the USDA with the synbiotic Poultry- Star have shown amelioration of necrotic enteritis in broilers reared in commercial facilities with a history of recurrent outbreaks of

www.biomin.net [email protected] New strategy for sustainable poultry production

by Marco Aurélio de Sousa, DVM, MSc, Biomin Holding GmbH, Herzogen- burg, Austria. [email protected]

owadays with the constant tive substances of essential oils increase of grain prices, which might cross the cell mem- feed conversion ratio brane and interact or disrupt intra- plays a role in the costs of produc- cellular structures (Cristani et al. tion and significantly exerts influ- 2007). A positive effect towards N the intestinal microflora is there- ence in the price of the final product. fore regarded as a main reason for To enhance feed conversion, ad- improvements in growth perform- ditives are commonly incorpo- ance, limiting nutrient utilisation rated in feeding stuffs, although by gut microbes and providing the right choice on what to use more available nutrients for the should be carefully examined. bird. Wrong decisions might generate Besides performance enhancer additional production costs. To properties, Biomin P.E.P. has also avoid frustrations the decision shown strong antioxidant and an- maker must choose with reference timicrobial properties. Among its to products which have been properties, it improves the estab- properly tested, authorised and lishment of a beneficial gut mi- their efficacy documented. croflora in the digestive tract to Furthermore, inappropriate use prevent the gut from invasion by of additives may promote adverse pathogenic organisms. consequences on animal health Biomin P.E.P. reduced intestinal and on consumers of livestock lesion scores and lowered the products. mortality of clostridium infected Animals fed with supplementa- birds, hence providing the poultry tion of essential oils Biomin P.E.P. industry with a tool to promote demonstrated improved feed con- better gut health and decrease version rates and a higher Produc- monetary losses due to bacterial tion Index at scientific and field infections. Controlling intestinal experiments. Thus, Biomin P.E.P. diseases with phytogenics is the assists in optimising poultry pro- key to raising chickens without duction. Enhancement of cost ef- antibiotics at reduced costs. ficiency and its increase in Improvement in performance is profitability are due to the higher a result of the different properties weight gain and better FCR. of Biomin P.E.P. The benefits of Biomin P.E.P. is a plant derived Biomin P.E.P. are due to its syner- product which is added to the feed gism among ingredient’s mode of in order to improve digestibility action where the different animal and growth performance. responses to the treatment interact These plant active ingredients with each other and consequently exert multiple effects in the ani- enhance animal health and its pro- mal, including amelioration of ductivity. Analysis of safety, qual- feed efficiency in terms of modu- ity and efficacy of Biomin P.E.P. lation of gut flora and health sta- was demonstrated in the form of evidence based scientific publica- tus. The mechanism of action of n essential oils to achieve better tions. performance is not completely References are available clear but according to Ultee et al from Biomin on request (2002) and Xu et al (2008) essen- tial oils have the ability to disrupt cytoplasm membrane of pathogens. Moreover, antibacter- ial activity occurs in terms of ac- www.biomin.net [email protected] Mycotoxin interactions

by Karin Naehrer, Technical Manager, Biomin Holding GmbH, Herzogen- burg, Austria. [email protected]

arious feedstuffs are at due to additive or synergistic in- risk to fungal infection teractions between different my- and might, consequently, cotoxins (Cast 2003). Additive be contaminated with mycotoxins; effects occur when the combined Vthe secondary metabolites pro- effects of two mycotoxins are duced by different mould species. identical to the sum of the effect Mycotoxin contaminated grains of each individual toxin; whereas can cause a great deal of problems synergistic effects are where the in poultry production varying combined effects of two mycotox- from immune suppression to ins are much greater than the sum death in severe cases, depending of the effects of each toxin. on toxin-related (type of myco- Synergistic effects are described toxin consumed, level and dura- in the literature for instance with tion of intake), animal-related fumonisin B1-containing material (sex, age, breed, general health and deoxynivalenol, fumonisin and immune status) and environ- B1 and aflatoxin B1 or aflatoxin mental (farm management, hy- B1 with T-2 toxins (Harvey et al., giene and temperature) factors. 1995; Huff et al., 1988; Kubena et In many cases, animals do not al., 1990). perform as well as they could or Co-occurrence of mycotoxins as it would be expected based on may be one important reason for the breed’s characteristics. divergences in effects described in In addition, veterinarians often scientific studies in which, in con- try to cure secondary symptoms trast to the field situation, mostly which appear, but often mycotox- purified toxins are used. In field ins are one of the primary reasons outbreaks, naturally contaminated for an impaired performance of feeds may contain multiple myco- the animal. toxins and thus apparently lower Moulds are capable of simulta- contamination levels (also at toxin neously producing several myco- concentrations under the detection toxins resulting in a natural limit) of a single specific myco- contamination of grain with dif- toxin can be associated with more ferent mycotoxins. According to severe mycotoxicoses (Binder et the 2009 Biomin survey program al. 2007). on the worldwide occurrence of Data in particular on the effect mycotoxins, 75% of the analysed of combinations of toxins on ani- samples were contaminated with mal health are rare. Mainly only at least one mycotoxin. two different mycotoxins and not In 40% of all analysed samples, multiple-toxin exposure were more than one mycotoxin was de- evaluated in these studies. tected (Rodrigues and Griessler, Therefore, more studies need to 2010). Similar results were pre- be conducted to provide informa- sented by Monbaliu et al. (2010) tion on the interactions of more in a survey of mycotoxin occur- than two mycotoxins under field rence in different feed samples conditions, with mycotoxin con- from EU countries, where 75% of centrations that commonly occur in the subacute contamination the analysed samples were con- n taminated with more than one my- range. cotoxin. Under practical conditions, this co-occurrence of References are available from Biomin on request mycotoxins is an important con- cern for poultry husbandry. Poor livestock performance and/or dis- ease symptoms observed may be

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