NUTRITION ▶▶▶


Mycotoxin transmission from sows to piglets


BY DR REGIANE SANTOS, MYCOTOXIN RESEARCHER, SCHOTHORST FEED RESEARCH T


he key reason for the studies performed at Schot- horst Feed Research (SFR) in the Netherlands was to determine the risks of mycotoxins to animal health and performance under practical condi-


tions. That means that we did not expose the animals to ex- tremely high levels of mycotoxins, but to those close to EU regulatory limits. Recently, in cooperation with Germany’s Federal Research Institute for Animal Health (FLI) in Brunswick, and French animal nutrition company Olmix, the Schothorst team evalu- ated the transmission of ZEN, DON and their derivatives dur- ing the last week of gestation and during lactation of sows, as measured in the colostrum and milk from sows, as well as in the serum from sows and piglets. The study was published in the open access journal Toxins. The main findings are summarised below.


Transmission into colostrum and milk ZEN and DON are the mycotoxins most commonly found in feed, especially feed based on corn and beet pulp. It is well known that exposure to high concentrations of ZEN or DON results in their transmission into milk. Even if the EU guidance values of these mycotoxins are followed in the final diet, transmission into the colostrum and milk from sows and into their piglets may still occur. ZEN and its derivatives, such as α-ZEL and β-ZEL, have a con- formation similar to that of oestradiol, allowing them to bind oestrogenic receptors. Also, ZEN is rapidly metabolised by the gastrointestinal tract after ingestion, producing some metab- olites that are even more toxic, such as the derivative just mentioned, α-ZEL. That shows the importance of measuring ZEN derivatives in milk and serum.


Three treatments In the study, two different batches of beet pulp were used to prepare the diets, resulting in one diet containing 100 ppb ZEN and another with 300 ppb ZEN. When preparing diets with different feedstuffs, multi-mycotoxin contamination is hard to avoid.


Although the beet pulp used in the present study was not a source of DON, the combination of all the other feedstuffs


Zearalenone and deoxynivalenol are better known as mycotoxins ZEN and DON. How do they – and their derivatives – transmit during gestation and lactation of sows? In a recent study, mycotoxin levels in colostrum and milk were measured, as well as in the serum of both sows and piglets.


used to prepare the feed resulted in a final diet containing about 250 ppb DON. That is much lower than the EU recom- mended level (900 ppb) and can be regarded as background contamination of pig feed. However, some impact on the intestinal integrity was hypothesised, particularly in com- bination with the intended ZEN dosing regimen. The trial consisted of three treatments: • T1: LoZEN from day 109 of gestation until day 26 of lactation; • T2: LoZEN from day 109 of gestation until farrowing and HiZEN from farrowing until day 26 of lactation; • T3: HiZEN from day 109 of gestation until day 26 of lactation. The mycotoxin levels in the experimental diets are shown in Table 1.


Table 1 – Multi-mycotoxins analyses of the diets (levels in ppb).


Diets


Mycotoxins (ppb) Zearalenone


Deoxynivalenol


Fumonisin B1+B2 Alternariol


Alternariol ME Beauvericin Enniatin A1 Enniatin B Enniatin B1


LoZEN 118 259 83.1 26.9 68.5 19.8 3.5


32.6 9.2


HiZEN 318 255 84.0 29.5 68.6 27.7 -


28.9 8.6


Below detection level in all diets: Aflatoxin B1, B2, G1, and G2, 3+15 Ac-DON, DON-3-G, Nivalenol, Ochratoxin A, T2 & HT2 Toxin, Diacetoxyscirpenol, Cytochalasine E, Sterigmatocystin, Alternariol ME, Citrinin, Roquefortine C, Enniatin A, A1, B and B1, Moniliformin.


▶ PIG PROGRESS | Volume 37, No. 2, 2021 45


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