3 Pillars of Reducing Mycotoxin-Induced Inflammation and Oxidative Stress

When the immune system is challenged by the presence of toxins, energy and nutrients are diverted away from essential functions such as growth, performance, reproduction and maintenance to fight off the challenge. As this happens, toxins have the potential to cause intestinal damage from inflammatory response, which then impairs whole body immunity. This impairment can cause additional issues such as increased susceptibility to infection or disease and reduced vaccine efficacy.

“When we talk about the immune system, the presence of mycotoxins messes up the whole system,” said Kemin Technical Services Manager Venkatesh Mani. “The entire immune system is impaired; it just doesn’t function when and where it is needed.”

Beyond that initial immune impairment, mycotoxin infiltration leads to oxidative stress, or an internal imbalance between free radicals – or reactive oxygen species (ROS) – and the animal’s natural antioxidant response to help manage internal oxidative stress. Excessive ROS resulting from inflammation can damage proteins and lipids that supply energy for tissue development and are needed to support animal growth. When left unchecked, ROS can even damage DNA.

Oxidative stress and the cost of time to recover

“Typically, antioxidant enzymes like catalase, superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase help manage free radicals in the animal. But in the case of excess inflammation or too many ROS, those enzymes will be compromised, and ROS can damage proteins and lipids,” said Kemin Product Manager Rachel Tonda. Chronic exposure to inflammatory molecules, such as caused by the constant presence of mycotoxins in the feed, results in depletion of these antioxidant enzyme resources. “Oxidative stress is the downstream effect of multiple stressors that livestock and poultry will face — environmental stressors like heat stress and pathogens in the gut, or in this case, mycotoxins. Together, these stressors will all eventually lead to oxidative stress which can result in intestinal cell apoptosis, or cell death.”

The process of repairing and regenerating intestinal epithelial cells can take up to seven days, robbing the producer of herd or flock productivity, whether in meat, eggs, dairy or reproductive animals. That means seven days when the animal is not performing to its full potential and seven days where the producer is not achieving optimal efficiency.

“Because oxidative stress takes energy away from the animal and causes cells to die, the loss is two-fold. The energy is taken away and the intestinal cells aren’t able to absorb key dietary nutrients,” Mani said. “There is a direct correlation between how much damage the intestine sustains and how much production decreases. The more damage, the fewer nutrients are absorbed, and the worse production performance gets.”

1. Manage molds. Molds found in feed grains produce mycotoxins when under environmental stressors such as heat and moisture. So, controlling mold helps reduce the likelihood of mycotoxins in feed by reducing their root cause. Molds not only produce mycotoxins but also reduce the nutritive value of the grains. Myco CURB^® is a mold inhibitor that helps preserve nutrient value and feed quality. It provides a blend of organic acids that inhibits mold growth through different modes of action to protect from a range of mold species.
2. Sequester mycotoxins. Under normal conditions, a strong intestinal barrier can help limit systemic mycotoxin effects. However, inflammation or oxidative stress caused by mycotoxins and their interactions can lead to leaky gut, which increases the risk of systemic mycotoxin challenges. To help reduce mycotoxin impacts on the intestine, certain feed additives can be used to sequester mycotoxins, thereby preventing them from reaching other organs and causing inflammation and other damage. Composed of a highly adsorbent zeolite aluminosilicate mineral, KALLSIL^™ helps provide broad-spectrum fungal metabolite control to improve feed quality, reducing the chance harmful metabolites may be absorbed and cause inflammation and oxidative stress.
3. Bolster antioxidant defenses. Maintaining the optimal balance of free radicals and ROS is critical to staving off oxidative stress. Supplementing diets with antioxidants like BHA, BHT or TBHQ, vitamins like vitamin E, minerals like selenium, and phytogenics like an essential oil can help build an animal’s natural antioxidant and anti-inflammatory defenses, maintain balanced ROS levels and help replenish the reserves quickly. Antioxidant systems like Kemin’s ENDOX^®, RENDOX^® and NATUROX^® products absorb free radicals to help maintain an optimal ROS balance. By keeping ROS in check, they limit oxidative stress which can lead to better livestock or poultry performance.

Mycotoxins are virtually ubiquitous in livestock and poultry feed. Left unattended, they can cause inflammation and later oxidative stress, especially in animals already experiencing other stressors. Knocking out mold and mycotoxins in feed and boosting animals’ natural abilities to prevent their damage can help prevent short- and long-term health complications and economic losses for producers. More importantly, both mold and mycotoxin mitigation don’t require complicated and expensive mitigation strategies. Explore more reasons to stay on top of mycotoxins this year in your livestock and poultry feed.

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