GROWTH, BLOOD AND HISTOPATHOLOGICAL CHANGES IN BROILERS FED AFLATOXIN

Abstract

Aflatoxins are lethal secondary products that have negative influences on growth, health, and organ functioning of broiler chickens, especially in diets based on maize. This study was focused on the protective effect of activated charcoal against the toxicity of aflatoxins on broilers. A total of one hundred one-day-old Arbor Acres chicks were randomly allocated to five diet treatments based on T1: basal control diet, and T2-T5: basal diet with supplementation of aflatoxin, 200 ppb, activated charcoal, 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0%. At day 42, blood samples would be taken to assess serum biochemical and haematological parameters, and 6 birds would be euthanised to evaluate the liver and kidney histopathology. Biochemistry of serum did not have any significant differences (P > 0.05) between ALT (2.93-6.48 IU /L), total protein (2.97-3.65 g/dL), albumin (0.87-1.27 g/dL), cholesterol (108.86-138.79 mg/dL), glucose (132.61-148.11 mg/dL), or calcium (8.94-9.47 mg/dL). AST levels showed tremendous disparities in comparison with treatments, and HDL, LDL, uric acid, alkaline phosphatase, creatinine, and phosphorus showed significant (P 0.05) alterations, which is suggestive of a dose-dependent physiological reaction to activated charcoal. This did not significantly affect haematological indices such as packed cell volume (28.83-32.83 %), haemoglobin (9.27-10.62%), and red blood cell count (2.9–3.34×10⁶/µL). The count of white blood cells ranged between 15.36 - 17.83 x 10⁹/µL, platelets between 13.52 - 16.80 x 10³, and lymphocyte percentages were highest in T5 (65.17%) and lowest in T4(59.33%). Dose-dependent hepatic and renal lesions were observed by histopathology with moderate degeneration in 1.0 percent charcoal (T3) and almost all tissue being preserved in 2.0 percent (T5), as in the control group. The results show that the protective effect on the negative effects of aflatoxin-contaminated diets is induced by the addition of activated charcoal to the food and reduces the negative effects on broiler chicken growth, physiological indices, and protein integrity. Maximum charcoal supplementation improves resistance to aflatoxicosis and promotes the health of poultry in polluted feeding environments.

Keywords: Aflatoxin, Broiler chicken, Activated charcoal, Growth performance, Histopathology, Serum biochemistry.