EFFECTS OF FUMONISIN-CONTAINING CULTURE MATERIAL ON PULMONARY CLEARANCE IN SWINE

Objective-To determine the potential effects of feeding fumonisin-cont aining culture material on the pulmonary clearance of blood-borne part iculates and bacteria in swine. Animals-21 healthy male pigs randomly assigned to control and treated groups. Procedure-Control pigs were fe d a standard grower ration while culture material containing fumonisin s (20 mg of hydrolyzed fumonisin B-1/kg of body weight/d) was added to the feed of treated pigs for 7 days. On day 8, pigs were anesthetized with halothane and catheterized, using a sterile cut-down procedure. 18 hours after recovery from anesthesia, Monastral Blue or Pseudomonas aeruginosa was infused into the right atrium of treated and control p igs for 30 minutes and pulmonary clearance was determined. Results-Pig s that were fed fumonisin-containing culture material had a significan tly (P < 0.05) decreased ability to clear Monastral Blue and P aerugin osa, Ultrastructural examination of the lung indicated that uptake of copper pigment by pulmonary intravascular macrophages was decreased in treated pigs. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance-Fumonisins, even whe n fed to pigs at sub-lethal concentrations, can inhibit pulmonary intr avascular macrophages from removing particulate matter and bacteria fr om the circulation, thus potentially predisposing swine to infectious disease.