The Effects of Maternal Intake of Naturally Mycotoxin-Contaminated Corn on Offspring Chicks Challenged With...

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of maternal intake of naturally mycotoxin-contaminated corn (MMC) on offspring chicks challenged with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). A total of 378 healthy 80-week-old Hy-line brown breeder hens were divided into three groups with 126 hens per group, and fed corn-soybean meal basal diet formulated by replacing uncontaminated corn with 0%, 50%, and 100% MMC for 6 weeks, respectively. After artificial insemination and hatching of breeding eggs, 48 healthy offspring chicks at 15 days of age with average weight from each breeder hen group (a total of 144 chicks, half male and half female) were selected and divided into two groups with six replicates and four chicks in each replicate and injected intraperitoneally either with sterile saline or with equal LPS solution at 17 and 19 days of age. Chicks were fed the same basal diet until 21 days of age. The results showed that maternal MMC diet and LPS challenge decreased body weight, increased alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase activities, and induced oxidative damage in offspring chicks. In conclusion, low levels of mycotoxins from breeder hens negatively affected the growth performance, induced liver damage, and reduced stress resistance ability in offspring chicks.