An impact of Deoxynivalenol produced by Fusarium graminearum on broiler chickens

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is a major mycotoxin from the trichothecene family of mycotoxins produced by Fusarium fungi that cause disease in grains. Food and feed contaminated with DON cause a variety of adverse health effects in humans and farm animals. However, the fermentation conditions of DON for toxicological study remain to be optimised. Deoxynivalenol levels were increased in a constant temperature of 20°C after fermentation for 7 and 14 days compared with cycling temperatures between 10-20°C and 15-20°C. We have established that optimum conditions for DON production on rice-based medium is constant temperature at 20°C. In feeding experiments, the villus height and the ratio of villus height and crypt depth were reduced in the duodenum of DON-fed broiler chickens, whereas a mycotoxin degradation agent efficiently reversed the abnormal morphology of the small intestine in the DON-fed broilers. The expression of pro-inflammatory gene, COX-2, was induced in the spleen and bursa of Fabricius of DON-fed broilers. This effect was alleviated in the presence of mycotoxin degradation agent. DON produced in solid-state fermentation is able to cause toxic effects in broilers and induce an abnormal morphology of the small intestine, particularly the duodenum.