DIETARY EXPOSURE OF BROILER BREEDERS TO AFLATOXIN RESULTS IN IMMUNE DYSFUNCTION IN PROGENY CHICKS

Broiler breeder hens were fed diets amended with 0 and 10 mg/kg (Trial 1) or 0, 0.2, 1, or 5 mg/kg (Trial 2) of aflatoxin (AF). Fertile eggs collected during 14 d of AF feeding were examined for AF residues. Va rious immunological endpoints were examined in chicks hatched from the se eggs. Eggs collected at 7 d of Al; feeding (Trial 1) had 0.15 to 0. 48 ng/g of AFB(1) and 0.22 to 0.51 ng/g of aflatoxicol, whereas eggs c ollected at 14 d of AF feeding had 0.05 to 0.60 ng of AFB(1)/g and 0.1 9 to 1.20 ng of aflatoxicol/g. In both trials, AF dietary exposure res ulted in embryonic mortality and reduction in hatchability compared to controls. The AF progeny chicks in Trial 2 had total anti-SRBC antibo dies similar to the controls during the primary antibody response. How ever, at 5 and 7 d after secondary SRBC injection, the antibody levels in the 1 and 5 mg/kg AF groups were lower than those of controls. Dep ression in anti-Brucella abortus antibodies occurred only in chicks fr om the 5 mg/kg AF group. Furthermore, phagocytosis of SRBC and reactiv e oxygen intermediate production by macrophages from AF progeny chicks were reduced as compared with the control chicks. The findings of thi s study imply that the progeny chicks from hens consuming a AF-amended diet may be increasingly susceptible to disease owing to suppression of humoral and cellular immunity.