Rb. Harvey et al., MONILIFORMIN FROM FUSARIUM-FUJIKUROI CULTURE MATERIAL AND DEOXYNIVALENOL FROM NATURALLY CONTAMINATED WHEAT INCORPORATED INTO DIETS OF BROILER CHICKS, Avian diseases, 41(4), 1997, pp. 957-963
The effects of feeding diets containing 100 mg moniliformin (M)/kg of
feed from culture material and 16 mg deoxynivalenol (DON)/kg of feed f
rom naturally contaminated wheat were evaluated in growing broiler chi
cks from 1 day to 21 days of age. Body weight (BW), body-weight gain,
and feed consumption were decreased by feeding M and M plus DON diets.
Relative heart weight was increased by the M diet, whereas relative w
eights of proventriculus, gizzard, and heart were increased by the M p
lus DON diet. The M diet increased alanine transferase and aspartate t
ransaminase activities and creatinine concentration and decreased mean
corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, and mean corpuscular
hemoglobin concentration (MCHC). The M and DON diet decreased glucose
, hemoglobin, and MCHC. Histopathological lesions from the M diet were
limited to the kidney and consisted of extensive renal tubular epithe
lial degeneration plus luminal mineralization. A moderation of the sev
erity of lesions was seen in the tissues of the M plus DON-fed chicks,
consisting of generally mild tubular epithelial degeneration. None of
the parameters measured were affected by the DON diet. Results indica
te additive or less-than-additive toxicity for most parameters when ch
icks were fed diets containing 100 mg M plus 16 mg DON/kg of feed. Alt
hough the concentration of M in this study was high compared with that
reported for feedstuffs, additional information on the occurrence and
toxicity of M will need to be collected in order to assess the import
ance of M to the poultry industry.