The impact of reducing mycotoxins in poultry feed on the natural defense against disease

减少动物饲料中抗菌剂的使用，特别是作为生长促进剂(AGP)，并治疗疾病已被加拿大家禽研究理事会定义为优先事项。尽管人们在寻找替代品，但这些也可能迫使微生物产生抗药性。因此，我们提出了一个在没有AGPS的情况下保持健康、生产和效率的总体战略，需要在生物安全、管理做法和营养方面进行改进，特别是喂养低水平的真菌毒素的饲料。霉菌毒素是真菌产生的防御性化学物质。令人担忧的是与镰刀菌头枯病(FHB)有关的真菌毒素，FHB是一种在世界各地种植的作物中的真菌疾病。在加拿大，FHB的发病率一直在上升，人们担心它正在变得更具传染性，并产生更多类型和更高水平的真菌毒素。在世界范围内，CAST(2003)估计25%的谷物含有一定程度的真菌毒素。在最近(Andretta等人，2011年)对98篇论文(1980-2009年间)的荟萃分析中得出结论，与各自的对照日粮相比，霉菌毒素使肉鸡的饲料摄入量减少了12%，体重增加减少了14%。Yegani等人。(2005)估计，加拿大畜禽生产者在1990至1999年间损失了10亿美元。FHB还对产量和谷物质量造成重大影响，加拿大谷物生产商每年的损失估计为8000万美元。畜牧业的反应是避免霉菌毒素的来源，并使用补充剂来结合和/或解毒可能存在的毒素。我们的研究小组最近安装了新的(在NA中首次安装)技术，该技术有助于使用近红外反射(NIR)光谱对单个谷物籽粒进行商业分选。根据粗蛋白的不同，谷物的来源可以分为三种。在虫害期间，FHB减少了单个籽粒中的蛋白质沉积。使用分选技术的初步数据与90%的籽粒回收有关，并将真菌毒素水平降低到低或无法检测到的水平。重点是了解霉菌毒素对免疫能力的影响，或动物对疾病挑战的反应能力或良好的疫苗反应能力，并减少对AFP的依赖。

Lowering the use of antimicrobials in animal feeds, particularly as growth promoters (AGPs), and to treat disease have been defined as priorities by the Canadian Poultry Research Council. Although alternatives are sought, these too may force microbial resistance. Therefore, we propose an overall strategy to maintain health, production and efficiency without AGPs requires improvements in bio-security, management practices and nutrition, specifically to feed diets with low levels of mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are chemicals produced by fungi as a defense. Of concern are the mycotoxins associated with Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) a fungal disease in crops grown worldwide. In Canada, the incidence of FHB has been increasing and there are concerns that it is becoming more infectious and producing more types and higher levels of mycotoxins. Worldwide, CAST (2003) estimates that 25% of all cereals have some level of mycotoxins. In a recent meta-analysis (Andretta et al., 2011) of 98 papers (between 1980-2009) concluded that mycotoxins reduced broilers feed intake by 12% and weight gain by 14% compared to the respective control diets. Yegani et al. (2005) estimated that Canadian livestock and poultry producers lost $1B between 1990 and 1999. FHB also significantly impacts yield and grain quality and losses are estimated at $80M/yr to Canadian cereal producers. The animal industry responds by avoiding sources of mycotoxins and use of supplements to bind and/or detoxify the toxins that may be present. Our research group has recently installed new (first installation in NA) technology that facilitates commercial sorting of individual kernels of grain using Near Infrared Reflectance (NIR) spectroscopy. Sources of grain can be separated into three fractions based on crude protein. During an infestation, FHB reduces protein deposition in individual kernels. Preliminary data using the sorting technology has been associated with recovery of >90% of the kernels and lowering levels of mycotoxins to low or non-detectable levels. Emphasis will be made to understand the impact of mycotoxins on immune capacity or the animal's ability to respond to disease challenge or mount a good vaccine response and reduce reliance on AGPs.