TOXICOPATHOLOGICAL AND SERUM BIOCHEMICAL ALTERATIONS INDUCED BY OCHRATOXIN A IN BROILER CHICKS AND THEIR AMELIORATION BY LOCALLY AVAILABLE BENTONITE CLAY.

Ochratoxin A (OTA), a potent carcinogen, poses a great threat to the lives of poultry, animals and humans. It causes nephrotoxicity, immunosuppression, mutagenicity and teratogenicity in birds. Bentonite clay, belonging to the subclass of aluminosilicates, has the ability to adsorb different molecules and can efficiently adsorb several mycotoxins too. The present study was designed to evaluate the ameliorative effects of locally available bentonite clay against OTA induced toxicopathological and serum biochemical alterations in broilers. For this, day old broilers were divided into 16 equal groups and were given different combinations of OTA (0.15, 0.3 and 1.0 mg/kg feed) and bentonite clay (5, 10 and 20 g/kg feed). Results indicated that feeding OTA alone caused a reduction in body weight gain, poor FCR, increased gross lesions, altered relative organ weights and serum biochemical values and all these changes occurred in a dose dependent manner. Feeding bentonite clay along with OTA did not ameliorate the OTA induced alterations in body weight, FCR, gross lesions, relative organ weights and serum biochemical parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]