Short Term Effects of Herbal Mixture and T-2 Toxin Exposure on Some Glutathione Redox and Lipid Peroxidation Parameters of Blood in Broiler Chickens

Fusarium moulds may produce a number of mycotoxins with different chemical structures, depending on temperature and humidity in the environment [22].The presence and quantity of substrates in the grains (e.g. starch), and the presence of oxygen are needed for the growth of the mould T-2 toxin has an 12,13-epoxy group in its chemical structure, which is a reactive compound and might be responsible for its pro-oxidant effects. Several herbal products contain antioxidant substances capable of scavenging free radicals and enhancing antioxidant enzymes [11].The purpose of present study was to investigate the short-term effect of T-2 toxin on lipid peroxidation processes and on the glutathione redox system in broiler chicken, in connection with the dietary addition of a medicinal herb mixture. 2.Materials and Methods A total of 120 three-week old Cobb 540 broiler chickens (body weight: 749.60±90.98 g) was randomly assigned into five experimental groups of 24 chickens in each.In three experimental groups Herbamix® Basic Premix were used in three different concentrations (1 kg feed) 300mg, 600 mg and 1500mg as two weeks long pre-treatment, to evaluate its effect against short-term T-2 toxin exposure. Reduced glutathione (GSH) content was measured as described by Sedlak and Lindsay [16].Glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity was determined according to Lawrence and Burk [9].GSH content and GPx activity were expressed in protein content, which was determined by the biuret method [21].Statistical analysis of data (calculation of means and standard deviations, oneway analysis of variance with Tukey's post-hoc test) was performed with GraphPad Prism 5.04 for Windows (GraphPad Software, San Diego, CA, USA). In the present experiment the contamination level of T-2 toxin in feed was 2.25-fold than tolerable level for broilers as proposed by Eriksen and Pettersson [5].and 4.5-fold as the proposed maximum level of the European Commission [6].Although in a long-term experiment with broiler chickens [20] investigated pathophysiological changes associated with the consumption of mycotoxin contaminated (2.35 mg T2 2 /kg feed) diet, T-2 toxin did not enhance the lipid peroxidation processes but had effect on the glutathione redox system in blood plasma.