The Effect of Addition of a Specific Mineral Clay (MEXSILTM) on the Mortality and Weight Gain of 3-Week Broiler Chicks Challenged with 5 ppm of AFB1

It has been known for decades that aflatoxin B1 severely depresses the growth rate and viability of poultry species with younger animals being most susceptible. Intensive investigations since that time have demonstrated that certain phyllosilicates, usually addressed as hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicates (HSCAS), have the ability to bind aflatoxin B1 and alleviate clinical symptoms of aflatoxicosis. The purpose of this experiment was to test the effectiveness of a specific HSCAS (code BAMEX011, MexsilTM, Grupo Karluis, Toluca, Mexico) using both in vitro and in vivo tests.

The in vitro test procedure is a standard test developed at UGA in which the test binder is added to a pure solution of aflatoxin B1 prepared by adding 2 mg to 50 ml of distilled water. The solution was filtered after 20 hr of constant stirring, a 10 ml aliquot was removed and the amount of aflatoxin B1 determined by HPLC. Fifty mg of HSCAS was added to 10 ml aliquots and analyzed for aflatoxin B1 at 0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.5 and 5.0 minutes. Results were as follows:

This results indicate that the test HSCAS has a high degree of aflatoxin B1 binding activity.

For the in vivo test, a supply of uncontaminated corn was obtained and diets were formulated to meet NRC specifications for young, growing chicks. Four dietary treatments were fed to groups of 10 day old chicks for 21 days and replicated 3 times. Treatments were (1) diet formulated with uncontaminated corn without additions (CON); (2) control diet with test agent added at 1% (HSCAS); (3) control diet with 5.0 ppm aflatoxin B1 added (AFB1); and (4) control diet with 1% HSCAS and 5.0 ppm aflatoxin B1 added (AFB1+HSCAS). Responses measured were body weights at 21 days of age and mortality. Treatment differences were assessed using ANOVA for growth weight and Chi-square analysis for mortality. Results below:

Columns with different superscripts differ significantly.

This study indicated that the HSCAS tested had no interference with absorption of micronutrients or vitamins because growth rates of HSCAS treatment were numerically superior to those of the control diet. It also indicates that under conditions of this experiment this HSCAS effectively bound aflatoxin B1 and permitted normal growth.

Taken together these results indicated that the specific HSCAS tested has a high degree of aflatoxin B1 binding and is effective in reducing the deleterious effects of this mycotoxins when fed to growing chicks between 1 and 21days of age.