Lactobacillus spp. reduces morphological changes and oxidative stress induced by deoxynivalenol on the intestine and liver of broilers.

The mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) contaminates animal feed worldwide, frequently resulting in poor performance and economic losses. Data concerning the effects on poultry health or focusing on intestinal toxicity or the response to oxidative stress are scarce. Also, there is a need for strategies to mitigate the negative effects of DON. This study aimed to investigate the effects of Lactobacillus spp. treatments on the intestine, liver and kidney of poultry fed a DON-contaminated diet. To achieve this aim, histological, morphometrical and histochemical assays were performed. The oxidative stress response was also analyzed by the tests: reduced glutathione, ferric reducing ability, reducing of 2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid), nitro blue tetrazolium detection of superoxide anion, and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances. One-day-old broilers chickens (n 50) were submitted to the following treatments: control, DON (19.3 mg kg-1), viable Lactobacillus spp. + DON (VL + DON), heat-inactivated Lactobacillus spp. + DON (HIL + DON), Lactobacillus spp. culture supernatant + DON (LCS + DON). The animals received the contaminated diet for seven days. DON increased the intestinal and liver lesion score, while the Lactobacillus spp. treatments (LT) remained like the control. DON reduced the villi height and increased the crypt depths. The LT showed crypt depths similar to control, and higher villi: crypt ratio in duodenum and jejunum. In the ileum, the LT reduced the goblet cell count in relation to DON group. DON increased the number of intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL) in jejunum and ileum, while the VL + DON treatment induced a significant decrease in IEL in comparison to DON. DON-diet induced an oxidative stress response in the intestine and liver, and also reduced the antioxidant capacity in these tissues, while LT treatments remained mostly similar to control. DON induced no change in redox balance in the kidney. The LT improved the intestinal health after DON acute exposure, reducing the oxidative stress damage mainly on jejunum and liver.