Effects of Feed Contaminant Deoxynivalenol on Plasma Cytokines and mRNA Expression of Immune Genes in the Intestine of Broiler Chickens

Khaled Ghareeb,Chimidtseren Soodoi,Alois Strasser,Soleman Sasgary,Josef Böhm,Wageha A Awad,Juliet Spencer

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0071492

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to investigate the individual and combined effects of dietary deoxynivalenol (DON) and a microbial feed additive on plasma cytokine level and on the expression of immune relevant genes in jejunal tissues of broilers. A total of 40 broiler chicks were obtained from a commercial hatchery and divided randomly into four groups (10 birds per group). Birds were reared in battery cages from one day old for 5 weeks. The dietary groups were 1) control birds fed basal diet; 2) DON group fed basal diet contaminated with 10 mg DON/ kg feed; 3) DON + Mycofix group fed basal diet contaminated with 10 mg DON/ kg feed and supplemented with a commercial feed additive, Mycofix® Select (MS) (2.5 kg/ton of feed); 4) Mycofix group fed basal diet supplemented with MS (2.5 kg/ton of feed). At 35 days, the plasma levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin 8 (IL-8) were quantified by ELISA test kits. Furthermore, the mRNA expression of TNF-α, IL-8, IL-1β, interferon gamma (IFNγ), transforming growth factor beta receptor I (TGFBR1) and nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells 1 (NF-κβ1) in jejunum were quantified by qRT-PCR. The results showed that the plasma TNF-α decreased in response to DON, while in combination with MS, the effect of DON was reduced. DON down-regulated the relative gene expression of IL-1β, TGFBR1 and IFN-γ, and addition of MS to the DON contaminated diet compensates these effects on IL-1β, TGFBR1 but not for IFN-γ. Furthermore, supplementation of MS to either DON contaminated or control diet up-regulated the mRNA expression of NF-κβ1. In conclusion, DON has the potential to provoke and modulate immunological reactions of broilers and subsequently could increase their susceptibility to disease. The additive seemed to have almost as much of an effect as DON, albeit on different genes.

Highlights

Deoxynivalenol (DON), or vomitoxin, is produced by Fusarium graminearum (Gibberella zea) and F. culmorum [1] and considered the most common contaminant in poultry feedstuffs
Birds of each group received one of the following dietary treatments; 1) control birds fed basal diet; 2) DON group fed basal diet contaminated with 10 mg DON/ kg feed; 3) DON + Mycofix group fed basal diet contaminated with 10 mg DON/ kg feed and supplemented with 2.5 kg of a commercially microbial feed additive, MycofixH Select (MS), (Biomin GmbH, Herzogenburg, Austria) per ton of feed; 4) Mycofix group fed basal diet supplemented with 2.5 kg of a commercially microbial feed additive, MycofixH Select, (Biomin GmbH, Herzogenburg, Austria) per ton of feed
Mycotoxin contents of diets The dietary concentration of DON in the starter control feed was 506680 mg/kg, and the level of the zearalenone was under the limits of detection

Summary

Introduction

Deoxynivalenol (DON), or vomitoxin, is produced by Fusarium graminearum (Gibberella zea) and F. culmorum [1] and considered the most common contaminant in poultry feedstuffs. It has negative effects on growth, feed consumption and may induce intestinal alterations, neurological and reproductive problems [2]. DON was shown to suppress the vaccination response to infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) [6] and to Newcastle disease virus (NDV) [6,7]. DON was shown to suppress the antibody response to infectious bronchitis vaccine (IBV) in broiler chickens [8,9]. It was shown that the dietary inclusion of DON in diets of laying hens resulted in a reduction of white blood cell number and total lymphocyte number [10]

Methods

Results

Conclusion