Mycotoxins in organs as a diagnostic factor and indicator of the presence of mycotoxins in feed

Mycotoxins can cause a decrease in the safety of livestock and the duration of productive use of animals, deterioration in productivity and quality of products. It can be quite difficult to identify mycotoxins as an etiological factor of the disease due to the fact that the course of mycotoxicosis more often takes on a chronic character. Mycotoxins in the body are rapidly metabolized to form other toxic compounds that are difficult to determine by analytical methods. The aim of the study was to investigate the presence of mycotoxins and their metabolites in poultry organs and tissues and feed when diagnosing mycotoxicoses. Samples received from poultry farms for the diagnosis of mycotoxicosis were used as the starting material: 9 feed samples and 18 samples. of the material (kidneys and liver). The identification of mycotoxins was determined by various methods, both regulated and described in foreign literature. As a result of the study of feed samples and pathological material by enzyme immunoassay, the content of T-2 toxin, zearalenone, fumonisin B1, aflatoxin B1, deoxynivalenol, ochratoxin A was less than the sensitivity limit of the method. When examining samples by thin-layer chromatography according to GOST 28396-89, the patulin content was also less than the sensitivity limit of the method. The measured concentrations indicate that the detected mycotoxins cannot be the main cause of death. At the second stage of the study, the analysis of feed samples and pathological material was performed using the HPLC-MS method. The data obtained at this stage on the content of normalized mycotoxins also did not exceed the MPC values. However, mycotoxins and their metabolites were identified, which could not be identified at the first stage of the study. The value of the conducted research lies in the possibility to give a correct conclusion and recommendations due to the detection of mycotoxins and their metabolic products in tissues in their absence in the provided feed samples. When determining the causes of death, it is a mistake to limit oneself to determining the residual amounts of the 6 main normalized mycotoxins in feed. It is necessary to identify a wider range of mycotoxins and their metabolites in feed and, if possible, in organs and tissues. It is also necessary to develop a modern regulatory framework for analytical methods for the determination of mycotoxins, especially for their determination in animal organs and tissues.