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Toxic effects, metabolism, and carry-over of ergot alkaloids in laying hens, with a special focus on changes of the alkaloid isomeric ratio in feed caused by hydrothermal treatment

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Abstract

Ergot alkaloids (EA) are mycotoxins formed by Claviceps purpurea. Due to the large variation in EA content, the mass proportion of ergot (hardened sclerotia) in animal diets is not suited to establish safe levels of EA. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to examine the dose-dependent effects of dietary EA on laying hens. Ergoty rye or ergot-free rye (control diet) was included in the diets either untreated or after hydrothermal treatment (“expansion”). The total EA levels in five different diets containing 0–3 % of untreated or expanded rye were 0.1–14.56 mg/kg (untreated rye) and 0.08–13.03 mg/kg (expanded rye). The average EA reduction amounted to 11 % due to expanding. The proportions of the sum of all -inine isomers however were consistently higher (19.5–48.4 %) compared to the sum of their -ine isomer counterparts which decreased at the same time. Most of the laying performance and reproductive traits were significantly compromised during the test period between weeks 22 and 42 of age when the diet with the highest EA content was fed. Toxic effects were less pronounced due to expanding. Relative weights of liver, proventriculus, and gizzard as well as the aspartate aminotransferase activity, the antibody titers to Newcastle disease virus, albumin, and total bilirubin concentrations were all significantly increased in hens fed at the highest dietary ergot level whereby expanding additionally modified the albumin and total bilirubin responses. No carry-over of EA into egg yolk and albumen, blood, liver, and breast muscle was found, but bile contained quantifiable levels of ergometrine and ergometrinine. Biological recovery of ingested individual alkaloids with the excreta varied from 2 to 22 % and was strongly positive linearly related to the octanol to water partition coefficient (logkOW). This suggests the lipophilicity of alkaloids as a factor influencing their metabolism and elimination. Based on the overall results of this study, a lowest observed adverse effect level (LOAEL) of 14.56 mg EA/kg for laying hen diets can be proposed, while the no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) corresponds to a dietary EA level of 3.72 mg/kg. However, it must be stressed that these critical levels apply for the specific EA pattern tested in the present experiment, while batches of ergot containing a less typical alkaloid composition, or other expanding conditions, might contribute to variations in the LOAEL/NOAEL.

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Acknowledgments

The author acknowledges the assistance of the co-workers of the Institutes of Animal Nutrition, Braunschweig, and Animal Welfare and Animal Husbandry, Celle, in performing the experiments and the analyses. Thanks go to Amandus Kahl GmbH & Co. KG, Reinbek, Germany, for performing the technical treatments of the feedstuffs.

Special thanks to Karl-Heinz Ueberschär who was responsible for analyzing feed and physiological specimens for ergot alkaloids, to Siegfried Matthes who was in charge of determination of clinical-chemical blood characteristics, and to Simone Hartmann who contributed to organizing and performing of the experiments.

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  1. Institute of Animal Nutrition, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute (FLI), Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Braunschweig, Germany

    Sven Dänicke

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Correspondence to Sven Dänicke.

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Treatments and experiments were conducted according to the European Community regulations concerning the protection of experimental animals and were approved by the State Bureau for Consumer Protection and Food Safety of Lower Saxony (LAVES) in Oldenburg, Germany..

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Dänicke, S. Toxic effects, metabolism, and carry-over of ergot alkaloids in laying hens, with a special focus on changes of the alkaloid isomeric ratio in feed caused by hydrothermal treatment. Mycotoxin Res 32, 37–52 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12550-016-0238-x

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