High dietary fat increases toxicity of diacetoxyscirpenol in chickens

The influence of high dietary fat on the toxicity of diacetoxyscirpenol (DAS) was investigated in a 2 x 5 factorial arrangement of treatments (6 and 12% fat, and 0, 1, 2, 4, and 8 micrograms DAS/g diet). The 3-wk body weight was decreased (P less than .0001) by DAS, but fat had no significant (P less than .05) effect. There was a highly significant (P less than .0059) interaction manifested at the higher levels of DAS by a greater decrease in body weight in the high-fat diet than in the low-fat diet. Neither feed conversion nor percentage of fat in fecal material were affected significantly (P less than .05) by DAS. These data were consistent with the high-fat diet promoting lipid micellar absorption of DAS and with DAS, once absorbed, inhibiting protein synthesis at the ribosomal level, a well established mechanism of action for trichothecene toxins such as DAS.