fumonisin-b3 and Poultry-Diseases

Fumonisins are the most recently discovered group of mycotoxins with important implications in animal health. Equine leucoencephalomalacia and porcine pulmonary edema are diseases observed for many years, but their etiology was unknown. These 2 syndromes were recently reproduced experimentally after administration of purified fumonisin B1 (FB1). The main target organs for the toxic actions of FB1 are the brain in horses and the lungs in the case of swine. However, severe liver damage in both species and pancreatic lesions in swine are also observed, especially when Fusarium moniliforme culture material (FCM) or naturally contaminated corn are used as the source of the fumonisins. Experimentally induced fumonisin toxicosis has been studied in poultry and cattle using FCM or naturally contaminated corn or corn screenings as the mycotoxin source. Results have shown a much lower sensitivity of these species to the toxic action of fumonisins when compared to horses and pigs. However, adverse effects on performance parameters of broiler chickens and turkey poults and on selected immune parameters of chickens and cattle were reported. In order to confirm these observations, toxicological studies using purified fumonisins are required. Studies to determine the interaction of fumonisin with other Fusarium toxins and other mycotoxins are also needed. No studies on the toxicokinetics of fumonisins have been reported. The toxicodynamics (mechanism of action) of fumonisins appears to be a blockage in the synthesis of sphingolipids and thus constitute a unique toxicological action among the known mycotoxins.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Topics: Animals; Animals, Domestic; Carcinogens, Environmental; Cattle; Encephalomalacia; Fumonisins; Horse Diseases; Horses; Mycotoxins; Poisoning; Poultry; Poultry Diseases; Pulmonary Edema; Structure-Activity Relationship; Swine; Swine Diseases

Three recently described and toxicologically important mycotoxins, fumonisin B1 (FB1), fumonisin B2 (FB2), and fumonisin B3 (FB3), produced by Fusarium moniliforme in various grains, have been associated with a number of diseases in both humans and animals. The toxicity of purified FB1, FB2, and FB3, individually and in combination (3:1:1 ratio), were evaluated with regard to their embryo toxicity by injection of the toxins into the air cell of chicken eggs at 72 h of incubation. Under these conditions, FB1 at doses of 0, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64 microg per egg resulted in embryonic mortality of 5, 12.5, 17.5, 20.0, 52.5, 77.5, and 100%, respectively. The 50% lethal dose for FB1, when injected into the air cell of embryonating chicken eggs, was determined to be 18.73 microg per egg. A comparison of the toxicity of FB1, FB2, and FB3, individually and in combination (3:1:1 ratio), at doses of 16 microg of total fumonisin per egg, indicated that the toxicity of the fumonisins differed, FB1 being the most toxic. Microscopic examination of chicken embryos exposed to fumonisin did not reveal any gross developmental abnormalities; however, severe hemorrhages of the head, neck, and thoracic area of the dead embryos were evident.

Topics: Animals; Carboxylic Acids; Carcinogens, Environmental; Chick Embryo; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Eggs; Fumonisins; Fusarium; Hemorrhage; Lethal Dose 50; Mortality; Mycotoxins; Poultry Diseases; Time Factors