The composite detoxification agent alleviates the toxicity induced by mycotoxins in Hy-Line Brown laying hens by regulating antioxidant capacity and gut bacterial communities.

This study evaluated the efficacy of a composite detoxification agent in mitigating the adverse effects of naturally mold-contaminated feed in laying hens. A total of 800 Hy-Line Brown hens (156 days old) were randomly allocated to five dietary treatments (8 replicates with 20 birds per replicate), following a 7-d adaptation and a 113-d experimental period. The basal diet served as the control (CON group). Experimental treatments were structured as follows: ZH group (5% of normal corn in the feed replaced with moldy corn); ZJ group (5% of normal corn replaced with moldy corn + 0.1 g/kg composite detoxification agent); DH group (5% of normal soybean meal replaced with moldy cottonseed meal); DJ group (5% of normal soybean meal replaced with moldy cottonseed meal + 0.1 g/kg composite detoxification agent). Compared with CON, hens fed the ZH diet exhibited decreased (P < 0.05) egg production, average daily feed intake, egg weight, egg mass, and albumen quality, deteriorated feed conversion ratio. Serum biochemistry in ZH hens revealed lower total protein and alkaline phosphatase levels but higher blood urea nitrogen. Additionally, hens fed ZH diet displayed oxidative stress, characterized by elevated malondialdehyde (MDA) and reduced activities of total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), glutathione S-transferase (GST), and nitric oxide (NO) (P < 0.05). Although less pronounced, similar alterations were observed in DH hens. Supplementation with the composite detoxifier restored laying performance and improved antioxidant status in both ZJ and DJ groups. Notably, the detoxifier enhanced gut microbiota diversity, enriched beneficial taxa including Lactobacillus and Limosilactobacillus, and correlated with alterations in the microbiota-host axis. These results indicate that the composite detoxifier alleviates mycotoxin-induced impairments and supports its application for managing feed mycotoxicosis in commercial layer production.