Evaluation of berberine efficacy in reducing the effects of aflatoxin B1 and ochratoxin A added to male broiler rations

作者：Pouyan Malekinezhad, Laura E. Ellestad, Nazar Afzali, Seyyed Homayoun Farhangfar, ‌Arash Omidi, Abbas Mohammadi · 发表于：Poultry Science · 年份：2020 · DOI：10.1016/j.psj.2020.10.040 · 被引用次数：42 · 研究领域：Mycotoxins in Agriculture and Food、Botanical Research and Chemistry、Berberine and alkaloids research

Many types of mycotoxins are found in food sources contaminated with fungi, and if these are ingested in large quantities or over a long period, they can affect the health of humans and domestic animals. Berberine (BBR) is a plant alkaloid with multiple pharmacological functions. This study aimed to investigate the effect of different levels of the plant alkaloid BBR on reducing toxic effects of aflatoxin B1 (AFB) and ochratoxin A (OTA) in broilers by examining performance characteristics, blood biochemistry, antioxidant systems, ileum morphology, and histopathology of the liver. The experiment was performed with 288 Ross 308 broilers reared in floor pens for 42 d in a randomized design with 9 treatments. Each treatment was replicated 4 times, and each replicate contained 8 chicks. Experimental treatments included (1) negative control diet with no additives (NC); (2) NC + 2 ppm AFB (positive control AFB; PCAFB); (3) NC + 2 ppm OTA (positive control OTA; PCOTA); (4) PCAFB + 200 mg/kg BBR; (5) PCAFB + 400 mg/kg BBR; (6) PCAFB + 600 mg/kg BBR; (7) PCOTA + 200 mg/kg BBR; (8) PCOTA + 400 mg/kg BBR; and (9) PCOTA + 600 mg/kg BBR. Compared with NC, feeding PCAFB and PCOTA diets reduced average daily feed intake, weight gain, serum concentrations of superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and the length and width of ileum villi (P < 0.05). At the same time, these parameters increased in birds fed PCAFB or PCOTA diets supplemented with 600 mg/kg of BBR (P < 0.05). Feeding PCAFB ...