Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by fungi that cause enteritis and other toxic effects in animals once absorbed. The pathology caused by the ingestion of mycotoxins present in feed is named mycotoxicosis.

It is very difficult to eliminate mycotoxins and completely prevent their presence in the feed. Nowadays, multi-contamination is usual, and mycotoxins can act synergistically, making it difficult to predict the effect of a combination of mycotoxins depending on their individual effect and their individual safety ranges.

Therefore, mycotoxins are an important challenge for the livestock industry because of their effect on health and productivity of the farm. Many mycotoxins, such as aflatoxin or ochratoxin, are well known for its hepatotoxic effects. Others, like deoxynivalenol (DON), may also affect the liver once absorbed. Those mycotoxins can:

• Worsen the liver function, decreasing the detoxification ability of the organ and enhancing the toxic effect of mycotoxins and other agents.
• Decrease the protein synthesis of the liver, affecting the meat production and the immune system, and increasing the susceptibility to infections, which can easily become systemic.

These negative effects of mycotoxins on the liver impact the animal performance, obtaining lower final weight and worse feed conversion, and increasing medication costs and overall mortality.

Such impact of mycotoxins on performance and economy of the farm shows that preventing mycotoxin absorption and hepatotoxicity is important, and also to promote liver regeneration after any challenge.

Double approach to fight mycotoxins

Biovet S.A. has developed Alquerfeed Livtox, a mycotoxin binder that combines two active ingredients, the mycotoxin binding molecule Silicoglycidol and the liver conditioner pronutrients.

On one hand, Silicoglycidol is the patented molecule of Biovet, a unique mycotoxin-binding technology with an optimized surface. Thanks to the thermal and ionic treatment received, Silicoglycidol has a wide spectrum of action, a high specificity for mycotoxins, without interaction with nutrients of the diet (like amino acids nor vitamins), and a high efficacy throughout the digestive tract, preventing the absorption of mycotoxins and the irritation of the digestive mucosa.

On the other hand, liver conditioner pronutrients are active molecules of plant origin that act physiologically to enhance the liver function, stimulating the detoxification function to eliminate mycotoxins and boosting the protection and regeneration of the organ after the toxic effect of mycotoxins.

Use of Alquerfeed Livtox, a Silicoglycidol-based binder and liver conditioners in pigs

The effect of this combined solution was assessed in 64 6-week-old crossbred pigs. The trial lasted for 4 weeks and animals were challenged with a DON-contaminated feed (2.6 ppm).

Deoxynivalenol (DON), also named vomitoxin, is a mycotoxin belonging to trichothecenes group which is produced by several species of Fusarium. It has a sesquiterpene group in its chemical structure that has a necrotizing effect when in contact with the digestive mucosa.

DON damages the digestive mucosa, causing a negative effect on performance, and can also damage the liver when absorbed, impacting on the organ function and the immune system. The most common visible signs include feed rejection, decrease in feed intake and vomits, together with growth stunt.

Pigs are very sensitive to this mycotoxin because they absorb it fast and have low capacity to biotransform it to a non-toxic metabolite.

The trial aimed to assess the animal performance and the profile of hepatic enzymes in blood of a control group, fed a diet containing DON without any binder, and the treated group, fed the same diet and receiving Alquerfeed Livtox at 1 kg/t.

In the table 1, it can be observed that the initial weight was slightly higher in the treated group (100 g). This difference between groups increased along the trial, obtaining the best weight at the end of the trial with Alquerfeed Livtox (+0.75 kg compared to control group). The same occured with the weight gain (Table 2), which was similar between groups for the first two weeks of the trial but changed drastically at weeks 2-4 of the trial, where the weight gain was increased by 7% in the group with Alquerfeed Livtox.

This difference in the weight gain in weeks 2-4 is linked to the decrease in the feed intake in the control group (1105 g/d), which the treated group did not suffer from (1166 g/d). The difference on the feed intake in weeks 2-4 was of 44.72 g/day, demonstrating how the group with Alquerfeed Livtox was able to overcome the DON challenge and the feed rejection caused by this mycotoxin.

Despite the higher feed consumption of the treated group, its benefits in growth allowed to obtain a better feed conversion (FCR) with Alquerfeed Livtox during all the trial (Table 3), with an average reduction of the FCR of 1.2%.

Additionally, blood sampling was performed at the end of the trial to a representative number of animals of each group, in order to evaluate the concentration of liver enzymes (ALT and AST). Higher levels of liver enzymes in blood are suggestive of liver damage.

The use of Alquerfeed Livtox reduced ALT and AST concentration in blood by 2% and 8%, respectively.

Conclusions

Mycotoxins pose an important threat for the swine industry since they negatively affect the performance and profitability of the farms. DON is a strong challenge because of its high prevalence in feed and the sensitivity of pigs to such mycotoxin.

Alquerfeed Livtox, combining the technology of Silicoglycidol and liver conditioner pronutrients, has demonstrated to be an effective tool to protect pigs against DON, as it prevents the negative effects of DON on productivity, avoids its absorption and prevents its hepatotoxic effects.

The group with Alquerfeed Livtox achieved higher weight (+3%), better feed conversion (-1.9%), and a lower concentration of liver enzymes in blood, indicative of a better functioning of the liver.

Alquerfeed Livtox is a mycotoxin binder that Silicoglycidol and liver conditioner pronutrients has been developed by Biovet S.A.