Protective effects of a multicomponent toxin binder and organic acid blend on feed efficiency, oxidative status, hepatic histology, and jejunal immune–antioxidant responses in broilers co-challenged with aflatoxin B1 and Clostridium perfringens

This study evaluated the effects of a multicomponent toxin binder (MTB) and an organic acid blend (OAB) on performance, immunity, oxidative status, liver histology, and jejunal inflammatory/antioxidant gene expression in broilers challenged with aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁) and Clostridium perfringens. A total of 420 Ross 308 broilers were assigned to seven groups (6 replicates × 10 birds): Control (unchallenged), A (AFB₁), AM (AFB₁ + MTB), AMO (AFB₁ + MTB + OAB), AC (AFB₁+ C. perfringens), ACM (AFB₁ + C. perfringens + MTB), and ACMO (AFB₁ + C. perfringens + MTB+OAB). AFB₁ (500 ppb) was provided throughout days 0-42; C. perfringens (1 × 10⁸ CFU/mL) was administered on days 15-24. AFB₁ alone, and more markedly the AFB₁+C. perfringens co-challenge, reduced body-weight gain and feed efficiency, increased hepatic superoxide dismutase activity and malondialdehyde level, enlarged central-vein diameter, upregulated jejunal NF-κB1, TNF-α, and IL-6, and downregulated hepatic total antioxidant capacity and jejunal NRF2 and SOD1 mRNA expression (P < 0.05). The co-challenge also lowered Newcastle disease antibody titers, reduced phytohemagglutinin-induced toe-web swelling, and increased the heterophil:lymphocyte ratio (P < 0.05). Although MTB attenuated several AFB₁-related impairments, MTB+OAB provided superior protection under co-challenge, increasing hepatic total antioxidant capacity, lowering malondialdehyde, improving liver histoarchitecture (central-vein diameter), and normalizing the expression of immune and antioxidant genes toward control levels, alongside improvements in performance indices (P < 0.05). In conclusion, although co-exposure to AFB₁ and C. perfringens caused greater detriments than AFB₁ alone, adding OAB to MTB improved performance, oxidative, histological, and immunological outcomes, supporting MTB+OAB as a practical strategy for broilers under concurrent mycotoxin-enteric challenge.