The effects of novel commercial toxin binders on growth performance, immunity and intestinal morphology of broiler chicks infected with aflatoxin B1

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of commercial toxin binders on growth perfor-mance, immunity and intestinal morphology of broiler chicks fed with diets contaminated with aflatox-in B1 (AFB1). One-day-old male Cobb 500 broiler chicks (n=350) with an initial weight of 42±3 g was assigned to one of 7 treatments with 5 replications and 10 broiler chicks per group. Experimental treat-ments were: 1) Basal diet without aflatoxin and additive (NC); 2) Basal diet containing aflatoxin (PC); 3) PC diet containing test toxin binder-1 (ARSI1) 4) PC diet containing test toxin binder-2 (ARSI2); 5) PC diet containing test toxin binder-3 (STB1); 6) PC diet containing test toxin binder-4 (STB2) and 7) PC diet containing commercial toxin binder (Mycofix). Growth performance, cellular and humoral im-mune responses, carcass traits and intestinal morphology were assessed. Average daily weight gain (ADG), and cellular and humoral immunities were significantly lower in broiler chicks in the PC group compared to broiler chicks in the NC group in the different growth periods (P<0.05), but dietary sup-plementation with none of the test toxin binders improved ADG compared to the PC group (P>0.05). Dietary inclusion of ASRI1 and ASRI2 significantly decreased adverse the effects of aflatoxin on im-mune responses (P<0.05). The results showed that villus length in the different parts of intestine, ileal villus width and crypt depth and duodenal crypt depth were significantly decreased in broiler chicks fed with PC diet in comparison to broiler chicks fed the NC diet (P<0.05). Dietary inclusion of differ-ent toxin binders also alleviated adverse effects of aflatoxin on intestinal morphology (P<0.05). In con-clusion, dietary inclusion of ASRI1 and ASRI2 toxin binders is recommended for alleviation of the negative effects of AFB1 on immune responses and intestinal morphology.