Protective role of biosynthetic silver nanoparticles in broilers with aflatoxicosis through histopathological study of spleen

Aflatoxin (AF) is considered a problematic issue in poultry farms. A novel bio-green synthesis nanoparticle technique is newly introduced in the poultry industry, thus this study aimed to investigate the harmful effects of aflatoxin on the histological structure of broilers' spleen as well as its toxicity on the immune system through the study of CD4+ and CD8+ expression and determination of the silver nitrate nanoparticles (AgNP) protective role against aflatoxin. Forty-five broiler chicks were divided into three groups. T1 control, T2 birds were treated with AF 70 ppb, and T3 birds were treated with AF and silver nanoparticles 150 ppm for 21 days. The result of histological examination in T2 revealed progressive pathological alteration in the red and white pulp with regressive pathological lesions in the splenic trabeculae and central artery sclerosis and white pulp regeneration with edema and congestion in T3. The descriptive chart analysis was used for pathological lesions, showing that the percentages for the red pulp in the three groups were 76, 71, and 73 and for the white pulp 24,29, and 27, respectively. Furthermore, there was a significant decrease of CD4+ and CD8+ expression in the splenic tissue of the broiler in T2 in contrast to T1 and T3. This study concluded that biosynthetic silver nanoparticles can reduce the histological effects and immunotoxicity of aflatoxin, and the descriptive and semi-quantity analysis of the histopathological lesions are essential modern methods in significantly evaluating the results of histological examination.