Investigating the effectiveness of doum and marjoram powders as dietary supplements inmitigating the negative effects of ochratoxin on broiler chickens health

Mycotoxins pose a significant risk to poultry production as they have detrimental effects on chicken health, immunity, and productivity.Additionally, they present a hazard to human health due to their teratogenic and carcinogenic properties.This work investigated the influence of using doum palm fruit and marjoram leaves' powders separately or in combination against experimentally induced ochratoxicosis in broiler chicks.A total of 100 day-old Cobb chicks were divided into 5 equal groups (20 chick/group with duplicate) as follows: G1: control negative birds, kept on feeding with starter broiler ration free from ochratoxin; G2: control positive birds, fed starter broiler ration with ochratoxin @ 5.4ppb; G3: fed starter broiler ration with ochratoxin @ 5.4ppb and treated with doum fruit powder @ 100g/kg ration; G4: fed starter broiler ration with ochratoxin @ 5.4ppb and treated with marjoram powder @ 15g/kg ration, and G5: fed starter broiler ration with ochratoxin @ 5.4ppb and treated with doum fruit powder @ 100g/kg ration and marjoram powder @ 15g/kg.The dual use of doum and marjoram powder at 15g/kg reduced the adverse effects by improving the renal and hepatic functions and reducing the histopathological as well as immunohistochemical alterations within liver, kidney, spleen, and heart tissues.Also, a significant improvement in the humoral immune response had been detected as elucidated by expression of different vital genes such as TBP, OCLN, MUC-1, JAM-2, CD4, CD8, IL-1b, IL6, TLR-4, BAX, Casp-3, and Gapdh; along with improvement in the antioxidant status.In conclusion, doum fruit powder (100g/kg) and marjoram powder (15 g/kg) can be used as feed additives to reduce the adverse effects induced by ochratoxicosis in broiler chickens.