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Although provisional maximum tolerable daily intake and recommended guidelines have been established for fumonisins (FB) in food, few data are available concerning levels of FB inedible animal tissues. Such data are of particular interest in avian species that can tolerate relativelyhigh levels of fumonisins in their feed. Also, even if multiple contamination of animal feed bytoxins produced by Fusarium is very frequent, little is known about the consequences of multiplecontamination for FB levels in tissues. The aim of this study was to analyze the concentrationsof FB in the muscle and liver of chickens and turkeys fed with FB alone and with FB combinedwith deoxynivalenol (DON), and with zearalenone (ZEN). Experimental diets were formulated byincorporating ground cultured toxigenic Fusarium strains in corn-soybean based feeds. Control dietswere free of mycotoxins, FB diets contained 20 mg FB1+FB2/kg, and FBDONZEN diets contained20, 5, and 0.5 mg/kg of FB1+FB2, DON, and ZEN, respectively. Animals were reared in individualcages with free access to water and feed. The feed was distributed to male Ross chickens from the1st to the 35th day of age and to male Grade Maker turkeys from the 55th to the 70th day of age.On the last day of the study, the birds were starved for eight hours, killed, and autopsied for tissuessampling. No sign of toxicity was observed. A UHPLC-MS/MS method with isotopic dilution andimmunoaffinity clean-up of samples has been developed for analysis of FB in muscle (n = 8 per diet)and liver (n = 8 per diet). Only traces of FB that were below the LOQ of 0.25 µg/kg were found inmost of the samples of animals fed with the control diets. Mean concentrations of FB1, FB2, and FB3in muscle were 17.5, 3.39, and 1.26 µg/kg, respectively, in chickens, and 5.77, 1.52, and 0.54 µg/kg inturkeys, respectively. In the liver, the respective FB1, FB2, and FB3 concentrations were 44.7, 2.61, and0.79 µg/kg in chickens, and 41.47, 4.23, and 1.41 µg/kg, in turkeys. Cumulated level of FB1+FB2+FB3in the highly contaminated samples were above 60 and 100 µg/kg in muscle and liver, respectively.The concentrations of FB in the tissues of animals fed the FBDONZEN diet did not greatly differ fromthe concentrations measured in animals fed the diet containing only FB.

The symbiotic association of Epichloe festucae var. lolii (formerly named Neotyphodium lolii) with perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) leads to the production of ergovaline (EV) and lolitrem B (LB) that are toxic for livestock. The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of feeding endophyte-infected ryegrass (SE+) hay on 16 lactating ewes (BW 80 +/- 10 kg) in comparison with endophyte-free ryegrass (SE-) hay to investigate the putative mechanisms of action of EV and LB and to evaluate their persistence in milk and animal tissues. The mean EV and LB concentrations in SE+ hay were 851 and 884 mu g/kg DM, respectively, whereas these alkaloids were below the limit of detection in SE-hay. No effect of SE+ was observed on animal health and skin temperature whereas prolactin decreased and significant differences between hays were observed from d 7 to 28 of the study (P < 0.03) but had no effect on milk production. Hematocrit and biochemical analyses of plasma revealed no significant difference between SE+ and SE-, whereas cortisol concentration differed significantly on d 28 (P = 0.001). Measurement of oxidative damage and antioxidant enzyme activities in plasma, liver, and kidneys revealed a slight increase in some enzyme activities involved in defense against oxidative damage in the SE+ fed ewes. Slight variations in the activities of hepatic and kidney flavin monooxygenase enzymes were observed, whereas in the kidney, glutathione S-transferase activity decreased significantly (P = 0.002) in the SE+ fed ewes, whereas uridine diphosphate glucuronosyltransferase activity increased (P = 0.001). After 28 d of exposure of ewes to the SE+ hay, low EV and LB concentrations were measured in tissues. The highest concentration of EV was observed in the liver (0.68 mu g/kg) whereas fat contained the highest concentration of LB (2.39 mu g/kg). Both toxins were also identified at the trace level in milk.

Ergovaline (EV) produced by symbiotic association of Epichloë coenophiala with tall fescue (Lolium arundinaceum) causes toxicoses in livestock. In this study, 16 lactating ewes (BW 76.0 ± 0.6 kg) were used to determine the effects of feeding endophyte-infected (FE+) or endophyte free (FE−) tall fescue hay on animal health and performances and to investigate the putative mechanisms of action of EV. The mean EV concentrations in FE+ and FE− diets were 497 ± 52 and <5 µg/kg DM, respectively. Decreased hay consumption and BW were observed in the FE+ group. Prolactin (PRL) concentrations decreased (P < 0.02) in the FE+ group from d 3 to 28 of the study compared to the FE− group, but no consequences were observed on milk quantity or quality. Skin temperature and the thermocirculation index were lower (P < 0.05) in the FE+ than in the FE− group from d 3 to 7, but this effect disappeared from d 14 to 28. Hematocrit, mineral and biochemical, and enzymatic analyses of plasma revealed no differences between the 2 groups. Measurement of oxidative damage and antioxidant enzyme activities revealed a decrease in the activities of plasma catalase (P < 0.05), kidney glutathione reductase and peroxidase and in kidney total glutathione and malo-ndialdehyde contents (P < 0.02) in ewes fed FE+. Hepatic flavin monooxygenase enzyme activities decreased (P < 0.01) in ewes fed FE+, except for a marked increase in the demethylation of erythromycin. This activity is linked to cytochrome P4503A content and is known to be involved in ergot alkaloid metabolism. Glutathione S-transferase activity in the kidneys decreased (P < 0.02) in the FE+ group, whereas no difference was observed in uridine diphosphate-glucuronosyltransferase activity in the liver or kidneys. The reversibility of the effect of FE+ hay on skin temperature and the increase in erythromy-cin N-demethylase activity may contribute to the relative resistance of ewes to EV toxicity.