Impact of a biological anti-mycotoxin feed additive on aflatoxin milk transfer, performance, and biomarkers of liver and renal function in Jersey cows

Abstract

Mycotoxins are highly stable and can persist from grain harvest through animal feeding, potentially transferring to milk and exposing humans to these toxins. This study was conducted to compare the efficacy of feeding an aluminosilicate-based product or a biological anti-mycotoxin additive on milk aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) concentration, milk production and composition, complete blood cell count, and biomarkers of renal and liver function. Five primiparous Jersey cows (105 ± 3 days in milk, milk yield 15.0 ± 4.25 kg/d) were used in a 5 × 5 Latin square experiment, where periods were composed of 12 d for treatment adaptation, 4 d for sampling, and 5 d for washout. Treatment sequences randomly assigned to cows included a control (CON) treatment without aflatoxin challenge and four treatments with an artificially contaminated diet containing aflatoxins at 100 µg/kg diet DM. These treatments were: 1) Mycotoxin (MTX), aflatoxin challenge with no anti-mycotoxin additive; 2) Adsorbent (ADS), aflatoxin challenge with an aluminosilicate-based product at 0.1 % diet DM; 3) Biological anti-mycotoxin additive 1 (AM1), aflatoxin challenge with AM at 0.056 % diet DM; and 4) Biological anti-mycotoxin additive 3 (AM3), aflatoxin challenge with AM at 0.167 % diet DM. The AM was composed of microminerals, methionine, silymarin, yeast, and lactic acid bacteria. Milk AFM1 concentrations were the lowest in CON (0.05 µg/kg), followed by AM3(0.24 µg/kg), with intermediate levels in AM1 (0.50 µg/kg) and ADS (0.60 µg/kg), and highest in MTX (0.86 µg/kg). Milk yield was the highest for AM3 (21.8 kg/d), with intermediate values observed for CON (17.5 kg/d) and AM1 (19.4 kg/d), and the lowest production observed for MTX (16.4 kg/d). Milk fat yield was the highest for AM3, with intermediate values observed for CON and AM1, and the lowest yield found for ADS and MTX. Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio in blood was the highest for AM3, with intermediate values observed for AM1 and ADS, and the lowest for CON and MTX. Urea to creatinine ratio was greater in CON and MTX groups compared to the other treatments. Blood alanine aminotransferase concentration was the highest for MTX, with intermediate values for CON, and the lowest values for ADS, AM1, and AM3. Blood gamma-glutamyl transferase concentration was the highest for MTX, with intermediate values observed for CON, AM1, and AM3, and the lowest value observed for ADS. The AM additive at the highest dose was more effective in reducing milk AFM1 excretion than ADS. The AM3 group demonstrated superior productivity compared to both the groups fed an artificially contaminated diet and the control group.