Author details

detoxification of AFB was evaluated in broiler chickens. The results showed that LAB or HSCAS supplementation improved the growth performance, digestibility, and immune function of birds, reducing deleterious effects and tissue residues of AFB1; however, the effect of LAB resulted to be more effective than HSCAS, which indicates a possible mechanism of

As it was mentioned in Section 1, an important approach to prevent aflatoxicosis in livestock and poultry is the addition of non-nutritional adsorbents in the diet to bind AFB1 in the gastrointestinal tract, reducing its bioavailability, which leads to a reduction of mycotoxin uptake as well as distribution to the blood and the target organs. These adsorbents are large molecular weight compounds that are able to bind the mycotoxin, forming a stable complex adsorbent-mycotoxin, which can pass through the gastrointestinal tract of the animals without

The efficacy of adsorption appears to depend on the chemical structure of both the adsorbent, the mycotoxin, and the feed components. The physicochemical properties of the adsorbents such as total charge, charge distribution, size of the pores on the surface, surface area, iodine number, methylene blue index, and pH take on an important function in binding effectively. On the other hand, the properties of the adsorbed mycotoxins, like polarity, solubility, size, shape, charge distribution, and dissociation constants, also play a significant role. It has also been mentioned that the high fiber content of the feed substrate increased the mycotoxin

Even though clay minerals and aluminosilicate materials have been tested and recognized for their ability to bind AFB1 successfully [130, 131], the main risk of using them in animal feed is that they can also adsorb some feed vitamins and minerals, decreasing their utilization by animals [132, 133]. Another risk is that clays can release toxic components or elements bound to them, as heavy metals or dioxins, which can be released in the intestine of animals and

Facing the problems of the use of clay and aluminosilicate adsorbents, other types of binders have been investigated in the search for new adsorbent materials such as organic binders or biopolymers and synthetic polymers [17, 112]. Both kind of polymers are large molecules that are composed of many monomers, whose large molecular mass relative to a small molecule produces unique physical properties playing important roles in our society [24]. Just a few synthetic polymers have been evaluated and demonstrated to bind mycotoxins in vitro and in vivo, such as cholestyramine, divinylbenzene-styrene, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), and its modification polyvinylpolypyrrolidone (PVPP) [7, 17, 18, 112]; nevertheless, from these polymers, only PVP and PVPP have been tested against AFB1 in poultry. In vitro studies indicate that PVPP can bind up to 50 mg/kg of AFB1 from feed. On the other hand, in vivo studies carried out in broiler chickens demonstrated that PVPP could have ameliorated some serum biochemical and hematological parameters, it might have meliorated the detrimental effects of AFB1 on the immune system, and that the pathological changes were markedly inhibited by

biodegradation of the toxin by the probiotics [129].

158 Mycotoxins - Impact and Management Strategies

dissociating the AFB1, to be eliminated via the feces [22].

affinity to adsorbent [17, 18].

accumulated in animal organs [134, 135].

5. Use of polymers to prevent AFB1 toxic effects in poultry

Bruno Solis-Cruz<sup>1</sup> , Daniel Hernandez-Patlan<sup>1</sup> , Billy M. Hargis<sup>2</sup> and Guillermo Tellez2 \*

\*Address all correspondence to: gtellez@uark.edu

1 National Autonomous University of Mexico-Superior Studies Faculty at Cuautitlan (UNAM-FESC), Multidisciplinary Research Unit L5 (Pharmaceutical Development Testing Laboratory), Cuautitlan Izcalli, Mexico

2 Department of Poultry Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA
