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Effects of combinations of ochratoxin A and T-2 toxin on immune function of yellow-feathered broiler chickens

G. H. Wang^*,1, C. Y. Xue^,1, F. Chen^*, Y. L. Ma^*, X. B. Zhang^*, Y. Z. Bi^* and Y. C. Cao^,2

^* College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, P. R. China; and State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, College of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510006, P. R. China

² Corresponding author: caoych{at}mail.sysu.edu.cn

The study was to investigate the effects of combinations of ochratoxin A (OTA) and T-2 toxin on immune function of yellow-feathered broiler chickens. Three-hundred sixty 21-d-old broiler chickens were randomly assigned to 3 groups, each group consisting of 4 duplicates each with 30 chickens. The 3 groups were fed the following diets for 3 wk: C, basal diet (control, mycotoxin-free); L, basal diet + 0.25 mg/kg of OTA, 0.5 mg/kg of T-2 toxin; and H, basal diet + 0.5 mg/kg of OTA, 1 mg/kg of T-2 toxin. Body weight and feed consumption of chickens in the H group decreased significantly (P < 0.05) during the study, but their efficiency of feed utilization was not affected. The feeding of OTA-T-2 toxin diets decreased not only the relative weight of spleen, thymus, and bursa of Fabricius, but also serum concentrations of total protein, albumin, and globulin. Meanwhile, the feeding of OTA-T-2 toxin diets elevated the activities of serum -glutamyltransferase, asparate aminotransferase, and alanine aminotransferase. The results of methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium reduction assay indicated that the mitogenic responses of peripheral blood lymphocytes were diminished significantly (P < 0.05 for L group; P < 0.01 for H group). Flow cytometry was employed to determine 3 indexes in peripheral blood lymphocyte of broilers, including CD4⁺/CD3⁺, CD8⁺/CD3⁺, and CD4⁺/CD8⁺. Both toxin treatments significantly decreased (P < 0.01) CD4⁺/CD3⁺ and CD4⁺/CD8⁺ ratios. In summary, the combination of OTA and T-2 toxin impaired chick immune function even at combined concentrations as low as 0.25 mg/kg of OTA and 0.5 mg/kg of T-2 toxin.

Key Words: chicken • ochratoxin A • T-2 toxin • immune response

¹ The first 2 authors contributed equally to this work.