Mycotoxins: Biosecurity and Food Safety (nc129)

<p>NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY:<br/> For grain and livestock producers, the most important issues are preventing mycotoxin contamination and reducing the effects of mycotoxins on livestock. For grain buyers and food processors, the primary issue is being able to rapidly assess the quality of grain as pertaining to mycotoxins and mycotoxigenic fungi. The worst-case scenario for these stakeholders is to own millions of bushels of corn contaminated with unacceptable levels of aflatoxins and fumonisins, or wheat with excessive concentrations of deoxynivalenol (DON).
<p>APPROACH:<br/> Stations participating in objective 1 (IA, IL, ARS, MO, KS) will continue to generate data to address the knowledge gaps for the mechanistic basis for mycotoxin induced disease. This will be done through evaluating structure activity relationships (SAR) and investigating cell, tissue and whole animal responses at the biochemical, physiological and structural levels. Epidemiology data will be considered where available. Missouri will continue to provide all groups with Fusarium verticillioides culture material. MI, MN, ND, IN and PA will provide trichothecene-contaminated grain samples for all stations.
<p>PROGRESS: 2009/01 TO 2009/12<br/>OUTPUTS: An experiment was conducted to determine if curcuminoids from turmeric would prevent or reduce the toxic effects of AFB1 in weanling pigs fed dietary treatments for 21 days.On day 14 post weaning, 30 crossbred weanling pigs were weighed, ear-tagged, and placed in individual pens with ad libitum access to feed and water. A 3 x 2 factorial design [3 concentrations of AFB1 and two levels of curcuminoids (TCMN)] was used with 5 pigs assigned to each of 6 dietary treatments from day 14 to day 35 post weaning. Dietary treatments included: A) basal diet (BD) containing no AFB1 or TCMN; B) BD supplemented with 0.5 mg AFB1/kg of diet; C) BD supplemented with 1.0 mg AFB1/kg diet; D) BD supplemented with 220 mg TCMN/kg diet; E) BD supplemented with 220 mg TCMN/kg diet and 0.5 mg AFB1/kg diet; and F) BD supplemented with 220 mg TCMN/kg
diet and 1.0 mg AFB1/kg diet. Curcuminoids were supplied by turmeric powder containing 3.29% TCMN. AFB1 was supplied by Aspergillus parasiticus (NRRL 2999) culture material containing 750 mg AFB1/kg culture material. Feed intake (FI) and body weight gain (BWG) were reduced (P 0.05) by TCMN. No AFB1 by TCMN interactions (P > 0.05) were observed for FI or BWG. There was, however, a significant AFB1 by TCMN interaction (P 0.05) by dietary treatments. In contrast, relative liver weights increased (P 0.05) were observed for relative kidney or
relative liver weight. Serum concentrations of urinary nitrogen, creatinine, Na, K, Ca, P, Mg, albumen, globulin, total protein, GGT and CPK were not affected (P > 0.05) by dietary treatments. Serum AST was increased in pigs fed AF (P 0.05) by TCMN. There appeared to be a subtle increase in hepatocyte vacuolation associated with AF exposure. Results indicate that TCMN was not effective in reducing or preventig the toxic effects of AFB1. PARTICIPANTS: Participants in the project included the following faculty, staff, and students. R. Gelven-Research Specialist/Graduate student. R. Murarolli - PhD graduate student. L. Brand - graduate student. T. Evans - Toxicologist, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Missouri. C. Reddy - Faculty, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Missouri, and G. Rottinghaus - Chemist,
College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Missouri. Studenta all received training in the planning, conduct, and analyses of an experiment evaluating the efficacy of a natural antioxidant to reduce or prevent the toxic effects of AF in weanling pigs. TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audience for this research will include professionals working in the area of mycotoxins, swine producers, and animal health proessionals. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.