The effect of moderate-dose aflatoxin B and Salmonella Enteritidis infection on intestinal permeability in broiler chickens.

The effect of dietary aflatoxin B (AFB) and Salmonella Enteritidis infection on intestinal permeability was investigated. Two hundred 1-day-old male Ross 308 broiler chickens were randomly divided into 4 treatments of 5 replicates each (10 birds per replicate), which were fed ad libitum for 3 weeks with the following treatments: control, chickens fed an AFB-free diet; AF, chickens fed an AFB-contaminated diet at 470 ng/g; SE, chickens fed an AFB-free diet and challenged with 10 cfu of S. Enteritidis per bird at 18 days old; AF + SE, chickens fed an AFB-contaminated diet and challenged with 10 cfu of S. Enteritidis per bird at 18 days old. At day 21 of age, chicks received an oral gavage dose of fluorescein isothiocyanate dextran (FITC-dextran) to evaluate gastrointestinal leakage. Blood and intestinal samples were collected to evaluate serum biochemistry and total intestinal IgA secretion, respectively. Liver tissues were aseptically collected to assess bacterial invasiveness and for histomorphological studies. The results showed that chickens receiving AFB presented a significant increment (up to 2.4-fold) in serum FITC-dextran concentration (p < 0.05). Nevertheless, S. Enteritidis infection had no additional effect on gastrointestinal leakage. Furthermore, the ingestion of AFB had no impact on the invasive potential of S. Enteritidis. These results suggest that moderate-dose AFB adversely affects intestinal barrier function resulting in increased gut permeability in broiler chickens.