193 The impact of Fusarium mycotoxin contaminated diets on late gestation sow antibody response and passive transfer to her piglets.

Abstract Mycotoxins are the toxic secondary metabolites of fungi that contaminate crops, and their prevalence is predicted to increase worldwide with climate change. Pigs are the most sensitive livestock species to the effects of Fusarium mycotoxins, such as deoxynivalenol and zearalenone. Negative physiological effects induced by Fusarium mycotoxins can include feed refusal, impaired weight gain, immunosuppression, and impaired fertility. The objective of this study was to assess the antibody-mediated immune response of sows fed Fusarium mycotoxin-contaminated diets and determine if passive transfer to their piglets and the piglets’ antibody-mediated immune response was affected by the sows’ diets. Additionally, the mitigation performance of two mycotoxin binders, TOXO-XL and TOXO-HP, were assessed. Forty-four sows were randomly allocated into 4 treatment groups (n = 11): negative control (NC), positive control containing mycotoxins (PC), PC + mycotoxin binder TOXO-XL (XL), or PC + mycotoxin binder TOXO-HP (HP), and were fed the diets from gestation day (gd) 70 until piglet weaning at post-partum day (ppd) 21. Sows were immunized with 0.5 mg of hen egg white lysozyme (HEWL) on gd 90 and 100, and blood samples were collected at gd 90, 100, and 110. At farrowing, 2 piglets per sow were randomly selected for blood collection and on ppd 2, an additional 2 piglets per sow were selected for blood collection to assess passive transfer of HEWL-specific IgG antibodies to the piglets. A colostrum sample was collected at farrowing and on ppd 14, one male and one female piglet were euthanized for tissue collection. Relative antigen-specific IgG antibody concentrations were measured using ELISA. Sow serum HEWL-specific IgG significantly increased from gd 90 to gd 100 and 110 (p < 0.0005). NC sows had an increased HEWL-specific IgG response compared to PC, as did the HP sows. Piglet serum HEWL-specific IgG also significantly increased from ppd 0 to 2 (p < 0.0001), and there was an increased relative concentration of HEWL-specific IgG in piglets from the NC compared to the other groups, but it was not significant, though there was a tendency for NC to have higher relative concentration than PC piglets (p = 0.086). Hematoxylin and eosin-stained jejunum sections were analyzed for villi height and crypt depth. NC and HP piglets had a larger villi height to crypt depth ratio than the PC piglets (p = 0.0458 and p = 0.0415, respectively). Fusarium-contaminated diets did impact the IgG response of sows, with a mild remediation effect of the mycotoxin binder TOXO-HP; however, this was not found in the serum of piglets via passive transfer. TOXO-HP prevents Fusarium mycotoxin induced damage to the jejunum of piglets.