Dietary Chlorella vulgaris mitigates Aflatoxin B1 toxicity in broiler chicken: Toxicopathological, hematobiochemical and immunological perspectives

• Published in: Toxicon (Oxford) p. 108127
• Main Authors: Khatoon, Aisha, Amin, Aneela, Majeed, Sana, Gul, Shafia Tehseen, Arshad, Muhammad Imran, Saleemi, Muhammad Kashif, Ali, Ashiq, Abbas, Rao Zahid, Bhatti, Sheraz Ahmad
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 17.10.2024
• Subjects: Aflatoxin B1; Chlorella vulgaris; hematobiochemical; immunological; mitigation; toxicopathological; Aflatoxin B1; mitigation; toxicopathological; Chlorella vulgaris; hematobiochemical; immunological
• ISSN: 0041-0101; 1879-3150; 1879-3150
• DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2024.108127

Mycotoxins are the chemical substances, produced as the secondary metabolites of some toxigenic species of fungi which cause critical health issues in humans, birds and different animal species while Chlorella vulgaris (CV) is a unicellular microalga which contains plenty of important nutritional ingredients. This study was planned to evaluate the toxicopathological, hematobiochemical and immune changes incurred by dietary supplementation of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and their mitigation through CV in broilers. For this study to be conducted, 180 broiler birds of one day old were uniformly distributed into six (06) groups and administered various combinations of AFB1 (200 μg/kg) or CV (0.5 and 1.0%) and the duration of the experiment was 42 days. Parameters deliberated were body weight, feed intake, relative visceral organ weights, gross and histopathological examination, hematological parameters (erythrocytic and leukocytic count, hematocrit and hemoglobin), serum biochemical analysis (serum total proteins, ALT, globulin, albumin, creatinine and urea), humoral response against sheep RBCs, response to subcutaneous injection of phytohemagglutinin-P and phagocytic system function assay. The results of this experiment confirmed that 1.0% CV efficiently mitigated AFB1 induced alterations in the studied parameters while this mitigation was partial when 0.5% CV was used with AFB1. Further studies in this regard are still needed to investigate the exact AFB1:CV ratio responsible for complete amelioration. [Display omitted] •Mycotoxins, particularly aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is one of the most important mycotoxins for poultry industry.•Chlorella vulgaris (CV) is a unicellular, microalgae containing plenty of nutritional ingredients.•This study focusses upon mitigation potential of CV against AFB1 induced alterations in broilers.•AFB1 associated alterations are efficiently mitigated by 1% CV in feed.•It is declared that;•The study was officially approved by the Synopsis Scrutiny Committee of University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan.•During the study all the chicks were humanely treated and recommendations for the proper use of animals were strictly followed. Faculty synopsis committee of UAF, Pakistan provide assent for the continuation of this experimental study and protocols mentioned by the animal welfare for the ethical use of the animals were strictly followed (Dua, 2004). At the end of the trial, all birds were slaughtered and visceral organs were collected including (liver, kidney, intestine, thymus and bursa) and preserved in 10 % neutral buffered formalin. Blood samples were collected in EDTA tubes for hematological analysis while serum samples were separated from blood for biochemical analysis of the samples.