Effects of deoxynivalenol-contaminated diet on performance and blood parameters in growing swine

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of feeding a deoxynivalenol (DON)-contaminated diet (4.0 mg DON kg −1 diet) on performance and blood parameters of growing pigs (18.0–50.8 kg body weight) over a 42-d period. Blood samples were collected weekly from all animals. Ad libitum fed control and pair-fed control groups were used to distinguish between differences in feed intake and specific effects of the DON-containing diet. Pigs fed the DON-diet had on average 20% lower feed intake and 13% lower weight gain compared to the control ad libitum fed pigs. At necropsy there were no differences in the absolute and relative organ weights, but the fundic region of the stomach of pigs fed the DON-diet was more corrugated than for either of the controls. Blood profiles based on weekly sampling showed transient changes in serum protein for the DON-diet. Serum protein decreased compared to both controls at weeks 2 and 3 followed by recovery to control values. The β-globulin values between weeks 2 and 4 were also depressed. The data suggest that DON may impair protein synthesis in the liver, however, the animals were able to adapt to the dietary contamination and showed recovery by the end of the 6 wk experiment. Key words: Deoxynivalenol, contaminated corn, Fusarium, mycotoxin, swine, blood parameters, natural killer cells