Mitigation of mycotoxin residues and activation of endogenous stem cells in broiler chickens using a toxin binder: Implications for meat safety and performance enhancement

Vet World Vol.18 July-2025 Article - 6

Research Article

Veterinary World, 18(7): 1850-1862

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2025.1850-1862

Erma Safitri¹, Hery Purnobasuki², Tita Damayanti Lestari¹, Suzanita Utama¹, Rimayanti Rimayanti¹, Mirni Lamid³, Mutmainah Wardatul Jannah⁴, Siti Darodjah⁵, Goo Jang⁶, and Mitsuhiro Takagi⁷

1. Department of Veterinary Science, Division of Veterinary Reproduction, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia.

2. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia.

3. Department of Veterinary Science, Division of Animal Husbandry, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia.

4. Department of Veterinary Science, Division of Veterinary Reproduction Undergraduate Student of Veterinary Medicine Faculty, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia.

5. Department of Animal Production, Animal Husbandry Faculty, Universitas Padjadjaran, West Java Indonesia.

6. Department of Theriogenology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.

7. Laboratory of Theriogenology Joint Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Yamaguchi University, Yamaguchi, Japan.

Background and Aim: Mycotoxin contamination in poultry feed, particularly with aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and ochratoxin A (OTA), poses significant threats to broiler health, meat quality, and consumer safety. Toxin binders are commonly used to mitigate these effects; however, their impact on endogenous stem cell activity and overall broiler performance remains underexplored. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a commercial toxin binder in reducing AFB1 and OTA residues in broiler meat, inducing endogenous stem cell production, and improving growth and feed performance indices.

Materials and Methods: Twenty Cobb broilers were randomly assigned to four groups: Negative control (C−), positive control with mycotoxin-contaminated feed (C+), treatment 1 (T1: 1.1 g/kg binder), and treatment 2 (T2: 1.6 g/kg binder). Broilers were fed for 35 days. AFB1 and OTA levels in pectoral muscles were quantified using high-performance liquid chromatography, while endogenous stem cell markers (CD34+, CD45+, CD105−) in spleen tissue were assessed through flow cytometry. Growth parameters, feed conversion ratio (FCR), and performance index were also evaluated.

Results: AFB1 and OTA residues were significantly reduced in T1 and T2 compared to C+ (p < 0.05), with T2 showing the lowest levels (0.0023 μg/mL and 0.073 μg/mL, respectively). Flow cytometry revealed that T2 significantly induced endogenous stem cells (35.62% ± 2.16) compared to all other groups. The highest average daily growth occurred in T1 (68.78 ± 4.78 g/day), while the best FCR (1.38 ± 0.079) and performance index (386.2 ± 14.34) were also recorded in T1. No mortality occurred in any group.

Conclusion: Administering a toxin binder at 1.6 g/kg effectively reduced AFB1 and OTA residues and significantly activated endogenous stem cells, suggesting a protective and regenerative effect. Meanwhile, a dose of 1.1 g/kg yielded optimal growth performance and feed efficiency. These findings support the dual functional role of toxin binders in enhancing broiler meat safety and physiological resilience.

Keywords: aflatoxin, broiler chicken, feed conversion, health, mycotoxin residue, ochratoxin, performance index, stem cells, toxin binder.

How to cite this article: Safitri E, Purnobasuki H, Lestari TD, Utama S, Rimayanti R, Lamid M, Jannah MW, Darodjah S, Jang G, and Takagi M (2025) Mitigation of mycotoxin residues and activation of endogenous stem cells in broiler chickens using a toxin binder: Implications for meat safety and performance enhancement, Veterinary World, 18(7): 1850-1862.

Received: 29-01-2025 Accepted: 05-06-2025 Published online: 08-07-2025

Corresponding author: Erma Safitri E-mail: erma-s@fkh.unair.ac.id

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2025.1850-1862

Copyright: Safitri, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.