Effects of various Toxeat® concentrations on growth performance, immune response, cecal microflora, and gut morphology in broilers fed with aflatoxin contaminated diets

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of Toxeat (R), a mycotoxin binder, on functional indices, immune response, intestinal microflora, and gut morphology in broiler chickens fed aflatoxin-contaminated diets. Three hundred Cobb 500 broilers were randomly divided into 6 treatments with 5 replicates, each with 10 birds. The treatments included T-1: negative control (NC), T-2: T-1 + 1 g/ton aflatoxin (positive control: PC), T-3: PC + 1 kg/ton Toxeat (R), T-4: PC + 2 kg/ton Toxeat (R), T-5: PC + 3 kg/ton Toxeat (R), T-6: PC + 1 kg/ton Toxeat (R) without hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate. Growth performance, immune system response, and lactic acid bacteria (LAB) count decreased in the PC group (P < 0.05). Surprisingly, humoral and cellular immune response significantly increased in the Toxeat (R) treatments (P < 0.05). Besides, administration of Toxeat (R) significantly increased weight gain and LAB count compared with the PC group at the end of experiment (P < 0.05), whereas intestinal morphology showed no significant changes (P > 0.05). Finally, Toxeat (R) administration (1-2 kg/ton) resulted in the best growth performance and immunity.