Chronic exposure to aflatoxigenic fungi related to liver damage in pelt chinchillas (chinchilla lanigera)
Chinchilla pelt is a rare and expensive fur. Therefore, breeding these animals is a profitable activity. Confirmed acute cases of aflatoxin intoxication have been reported in Argentinean farms. The aims of this study were i) to evaluate mycobiota and AFB1 -producing species in chinchilla feeds ii) t...
| Autores: | , , , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2013 |
| País: | Argentina |
| Institución: | Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas |
| Repositorio: | CONICET Digital (CONICET) |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/22653 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/11336/22653 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | AFLATOXINS ASPERGILLUS SPP. CHINCHILLA LANIGERA FEED HISTOPATHOLOGY TOXICOLOGY https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6 https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1 |
| Sumario: | Chinchilla pelt is a rare and expensive fur. Therefore, breeding these animals is a profitable activity. Confirmed acute cases of aflatoxin intoxication have been reported in Argentinean farms. The aims of this study were i) to evaluate mycobiota and AFB1 -producing species in chinchilla feeds ii) to investigate their natural AFB1 contamination and iii) to analyze histopathological lesions in chinchilla livers. Feed samples (A: fur chinchillas, B: mother chinchillas, C: lucerne cubes) were collected from a factory and a farm. Livers of sacrificed chinchilla from the farm were macroscopically and microscopically examined. Total fungal counts of feed C exceeded 1x104 CFU g-1. Aspergillus, Fusarium and Penicillium were the prevalent genera, while A. flavus, A. fumigatus, F. verticillioides and F. proliferatum were the prevalent species. 50 % of A. flavus strains from factory samples and 69.7 % from farm samples produced 2.78 to 8. 64 µg g-1 and 0.66 to 58.8 µg g-1 AFB1 , respectively. Aflatoxin B1 was detected only in feeds from the farm, finding the highest incidence in feed C. Toxin levels varied between 1.90 and 97.34 µg kg-1 AFB1 . Mean levels in feed A and C exceeded 20 µg kg-1. Macroscopic examination of livers revealed normal appearance, size and color. However, histopathological examination indicated 63.3 % showed slight to moderate lipid degeneration with diffuse cytoplasm vacuolation, 9 % intense lipid cytoplasm vacuolation and 27.3 % hydropic degeneration and nuclear vacuolation in hepatocytes. A periodic monitoring of aflatoxins in feeds and their ingredients can prevent acute outbreaks and economic losses caused by chronic exposure. |
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