Department of Pathologic Sciences, State University Londrina, P.O. Box 10.011, Londrina 86057-970, PR, Brazil.
Department of Food Science and Technology, State University Londrina, P.O. Box 10.011, Londrina 86057-970, PR, Brazil.
Toxins (Basel). 2018 Aug 6;10(8):316. doi: 10.3390/toxins10080316.
The mycotoxin, ochratoxin-A (OTA), produced by some fungi, and is a natural contaminant of many foods and animal feeds worldwide. Due to its toxic effects, the recommended maximum daily intake of OTA for poultry feeds is 0.1 mg OTA/kg (ECR2006/575/EC); this dose does not induce changes in hepatic/renal parameters, but decreases thymus size and serum globulin concentrations. Accordingly, in this study, we assessed quantitatively the total circulating IgY and IgA serum levels, in chicks consuming a 0.1 mg OTA/kg diet (limit) and higher doses (0.3⁻1.1 mg OTA/kg diet) for 14 or 21 days. We also evaluated other immunological parameters (thymus, bursa of Fabricius, and spleen weights and leukocyte profiles) at day 21. Decreased IgY serum levels were observed in all OTA-treated groups ( < 0.05). In the low-dose group, IgA levels were decreased on day 21, but not on day 14. The size of the thymus and the bursa of Fabricius was decreased in all OTA-treated groups ( < 0.05), whereas reduced spleen size and altered leukocyte profiles were detected only in the high-dose group ( < 0.05). We concluded that chronic exposure to OTA, even at the recommended highest dose, affected IgY and IgA production in chicks.
真菌产生的霉菌毒素——赭曲霉毒素 A（OTA），是全世界许多食品和动物饲料的天然污染物。由于其毒性作用，推荐家禽饲料中 OTA 的最大日允许摄入量为 0.1 毫克 OTA/千克（ECR2006/575/EC）；该剂量不会引起肝/肾功能参数的变化，但会减小胸腺大小并降低血清球蛋白浓度。因此，在这项研究中，我们定量评估了连续 14 天或 21 天摄入含 0.1 毫克 OTA/千克饮食（限量）和更高剂量（0.3⁻1.1 毫克 OTA/千克饮食）的小鸡的总循环 IgY 和 IgA 血清水平。我们还在第 21 天评估了其他免疫参数（胸腺、法氏囊和脾脏重量以及白细胞谱）。在所有 OTA 处理组中，IgY 血清水平均降低（<0.05）。在低剂量组中，IgA 水平在第 21 天下降，但在第 14 天没有下降。所有 OTA 处理组的胸腺和法氏囊大小减小（<0.05），而脾脏大小减小和白细胞谱改变仅在高剂量组中检测到（<0.05）。我们得出结论，即使在推荐的最高剂量下，OTA 的慢性暴露也会影响小鸡的 IgY 和 IgA 产生。
