Effects of lactic acid bacteria and smectite after aflatoxin B challenge on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility and blood parameters of broilers.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and smectite on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility and blood parameters of broilers that were fed diets contaminated with aflatoxin B (AFB ). A total of 480 newly hatched male Arbor Acres broilers were randomly allocated into four groups with six replicates of 20 chicks each. The broilers were fed diets with the AFB (40 μg/kg) challenge or without (control) it and supplemented with smectite (3.0 g/kg) or LAB (4.0 × 10  CFU/kg) based on the AFB diet. The trial lasted for 42 days. The results showed that during days 1-42 of AFB challenge, the feed intake (FI) and body weight gain (BWG) were depressed (p < .05). The inclusion of LAB and smectite increased (p < .05) the BWG by 71.58 and 41.89 g/bird, respectively, which reached the level of the control diet (p ≥ .05), but there were no differences (p ≥ .05) in performance between LAB and smectite. LAB and smectite also increased (p < .05) the apparent total tract digestibility of the crude protein. Regarding the blood parameters, AFB decreased (p < .05) the levels of red blood cell count, haematocrit, mean corpuscular volume, haemoglobin, albumin and total protein. In the meantime, the AFB increased (p < .05) leucocyte counts, urea nitrogen, cholesterol, total bilirubin, creatinine, glutamic-pyruvic transaminase, glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase and alkaline phosphatase. By contrast, LAB and smectite affected (p < .05) these parameters in the opposite direction. It can be concluded that after the AFB challenge, LAB and smectite have similar effects on the growth and health of the broilers, suggesting that LAB could be an alternative against AFB in commercial animal feeds.