Abstract
Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of a toxin binder and organic acids on growth performance, serum lipid profile, health indices, carcass traits, and meat quality of broiler chickens challenged with aflatoxin B1 and Clostridium perfringens.
Methods: A total of 420 one-day-old as hatched Ross 308 broiler chicks were randomly assigned to 7 treatment groups, each with 6 replicates of 10 birds. The treatments were as follows: Control – basal diet without additives or challenges; A – basal diet, challenged with aflatoxin; AM – basal diet with toxin binder, challenged with aflatoxin; AMO – basal diet with toxin binder and organic acids, challenged with aflatoxin; ACP – basal diet, challenged with aflatoxin and C. perfringens; ACPM – basal diet with toxin binder, challenged with aflatoxin and C. perfringens; and ACPMO – basal diet with toxin binder and organic acids, challenged with aflatoxin and C. perfringens. Aflatoxin B1 (500 ppb) was administered throughout the trial, and C. perfringens (1×108 cfu/mL) was introduced on day 15 for ten consecutive days. Both the toxin binder and organic acids were added at 0.2% of the basal diet.
Results: Inclusion of a toxin binder, either alone or in combination with organic acids, alleviated these negative effects of aflatoxin challenge (P<0.05), and the combined challenge with aflatoxin and C. perfringens further decreased energy and protein efficiency ratios as well as specific growth rate (P<0.05). The toxin binder alone improved specific growth rate, and its combination with organic acids enhanced energy and protein efficiency ratios. The combined challenge increased serum low-density lipoprotein (LDL) level (P<0.05). The inclusion of toxin binder lowered these values, and its effect was more pronounced when used in combination with organic acids. Inclusion of toxin binder also decreased the LDL to high-density lipoprotein (HDL) ratio, atherogenic coefficient, and cardiac risk ratio in aflatoxin-