Abstract
BackgroundThe mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) is highly prevalent in cereals in moderate climates and therefore pigs are often exposed to a DON-contaminated diet. Pigs are highly susceptible to DON and intake of DON-contaminated feed may lead to an altered immune response and may influence the pathogenesis of specific bacterial diseases. Therefore, the maximum guidance level in feed is lowest in this species and has been set at 900 μg/kg feed by the European Commission. This study aimed to determine the effect of in-feed administration of a moderately high DON concentration (1514 μg/kg) on the severity of an experimental Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (M. hyopneumoniae) infection in weaned piglets. Fifty M. hyopneumoniae-free piglets were assigned at 30 days of age [study day (D)0] to four different groups: 1) negative control group (NCG; n = 5), 2) DON-contaminated group (DON; n = 15), 3) DON-contaminated and M. hyopneumoniae-inoculated group (DONMHYO; n = 15), 4) M. hyopneumoniae-inoculated group (MHYO; n = 15). The piglets were fed the experimental diets ad libitum for five weeks and were monitored during this period and euthanized at day 35 [27 days post infection (DPI)] or 36 (28 DPI). The main parameters under investigation were macroscopic lung lesions (MLL) at euthanasia, respiratory disease score (RDS) from day 8 until day 35, histopathologic lesions and log copies of M. hyopneumoniae DNA detected by qPCR, determined at the day of euthanasia.ResultsNo significant difference was obtained for MLL at euthanasia, RDS (8–35), histopathologic lung lesions and log copies of M. hyopneumoniae DNA in the DONMHYO and MHYO group and consequently, no enhancement of the severity of the M. hyopneumoniae infection could be detected in the DONMHYO compared to the MHYO group.ConclusionsUnder present conditions, the findings imply that feed contaminated with DON (1514 μg/kg) provided to weaned pigs for five weeks did not increase the severity of an experimental M. hyopneumoniae infection. Further research is needed to investigate the impact of DON on M. hyopneumoniae infections in a multi-mycotoxin and multi-pathogen environment.
Highlights
The mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) is highly prevalent in cereals in moderate climates and pigs are often exposed to a DON-contaminated diet
The present study aimed to investigate the effect of in-feed administration of DON at a moderately high level of 1540 μg/kg feed, on the clinical course of an experimental M. hyopneumoniae infection with two genetically different M. hyopneumoniae strains in weaned piglets
Post-weaning diarrhoea was observed from D0 onwards until D3 in all groups, all pigs were treated IM with Colistin sulphate (Colivet ‘S’, Prodivet, Eynatten, Belgium) from D0 onwards for 5 days, according to the product leaflet
Summary
The mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) is highly prevalent in cereals in moderate climates and pigs are often exposed to a DON-contaminated diet. The maximum guidance level in feed is lowest in this species and has been set at 900 μg/kg feed by the European Commission. This study aimed to determine the effect of in-feed administration of a moderately high DON concentration (1514 μg/kg) on the severity of an experimental Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (M. hyopneumoniae) infection in weaned piglets. Pigs are known to be a very sensitive animal species to DON, mainly because of the high oral bioavailability and differences in metabolism of this mycotoxin compared to other species [2]. The EU (European Union) recommended maximum pig feed guidance level for DON is 900 μg/kg, which is the lowest one compared to other farm animal species for total diets and compounds of total diets. The pig consumes a cereal rich diet and DON is frequently detected in wheat, barley, corn and by-products [9, 12]
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