Mycotoxins remain a major challenge in animal production. Without accurate evaluation, producers face uncertainty. Biomarker analysis now, for the first time, enables precise measurement of exposure and its impact on health and performance.
Despite recent technological advances, mycotoxins are unavoidable contaminants of feed and still one of the biggest issues in modern animal farming due to a lack of precise evaluation methods for the real mycotoxin exposure. However, biomarker analysis development at industrial level has enabled the accurate measurement of the mycotoxin systemic exposure.
First reliable method to measure mycotoxin exposure
For the first time it is possible to achieve what the scientific community, for a long time, theorised as the best method to correctly assess the true exposure of animals to mycotoxins. By detecting them and their metabolites in bodily fluids, in this case blood. Innovad Group has validated and patented a method to currently determine 36 different mycotoxin biomarkers in blood. Myco-Marker analysis includes emerging mycotoxins, to comprehensively cover total risk. Blood is collected using FTA cards to facilitate the sampling process on farms, requiring just one drop of blood per animal. The cards offer a simple means to easily collect blood spots and dispatch them to our lab for analysis without restrictions.
Blood biomarkers discovered true risk
The feed combined with blood mycotoxin analyses, provides a total overview of the overall mycotoxin exposure. Since launching the service, more than 9,000 blood samples from farms around the world have already been collected. The considerable volume of analytes tested has enabled an unprecedented reliable assessment of actual mycotoxin exposure on farms.
The preliminary results confirmed that feed alone to evaluate the true mycotoxin threat is not up to the task. Firstly, one or more mycotoxins were detected in all the evaluated farms when biomarker analysis was added, whereby 60% of farms were co-exposed to five or more mycotoxins. Secondly, a higher number of mycotoxins was detected in blood than in feed. Thus, in most cases (82%) blood analysis uncovered a mycotoxin risk ignored in the feed, confirming that feed analysis can underestimate the real exposure and the better ability of the biomarker analysis to better detect the true exposure of mycotoxins (figure 2). The emerging mycotoxins produced by Fusarium (enniatins and beauvericin) and Alternaria (like alternariol) were the most prevalent mycotoxins detected.
Assessment of detoxifier capacity under real conditions
The Myco-Marker biomonitoring service on over 9,000 animals confirmed that mycotoxins are persistent in all the farms around the world and significant economic losses are caused by this chronic exposure. Until now, mycotoxin binder application has been the most common mitigation practice on farm, but their efficacy has been evaluated only through a simple in vitro binding test.
However, as the European Food Safety Agency has stated, such simple tests performed “in the glass” do not sufficiently mimic the conditions in the digestive tract and cannot be used to demonstrate efficacy under practical conditions. State of art mycotoxin biomarker research with the University of Ghent in Belgium revealed the in vivo, in animals, detoxification efficacy of Escent under multi-mycotoxin exposure scenarios.
Efficacy under farming conditions
However, it was indispensable to test the Escent detoxifier technology in real farming conditions across all species, where the animals are simultaneously confronted to other several stress factors, like climatic conditions, low quality of feed, vaccinations, etc.
The Myco-Marker tool was deployed alongside overall performance and clinical assessments. The analyses revealed that systemic mycotoxin levels were widely reduced (or even completely removed) when animals were treated with the feed additive for a few weeks.
At one of the biggest global broiler producers, mycotoxin detoxifier was compared against a control group (without detoxifier). While birds not consuming detoxifier presented eight different mycotoxins in blood, only 2 mycotoxins (tenuazonic acid and beauvericin at trace level) were detected in blood from animals consuming detoxifier technology. This reduction in mycotoxin exposure was also accompanied by improved performance, like higher final weight (>3%; p < 0.05). Findings from all farm trials across species confirm unequivocally the solution drastically reduces systemic exposure to mycotoxins where it is really needed, that is, in the real-world environment.
Trends between real exposure and health symptoms
Chronic mycotoxin exposure, even at low levels, can lead to clinical symptoms. Biomarker analysis can also be applied as a diagnostic tool to assess the impact of mycotoxins on health problems. For example, biomonitoring programs across various farms have detected key correlations: higher exposure to deoxynivalenol and fumonisins was linked to farms suffering from necrotic enteritis, while elevated levels of estrogenic mycotoxins (such as zearalenone and alternariol) were found in animals suffering reproductive alterations.
The origin of some clinical symptoms can sometimes be difficult to identify. However, biomonitoring provides, for the first time, a clear understanding of mycotoxins’ true impact on animal health.
Biomonitoring to optimise your mitigation strategy
The combination of the diagnostic tool with the detoxifier offers the producer an innovative Mycotoxin Management Program. The program follows a 3-tier approach:
- Collecting feed samples from the animals’ diet.
- Collecting animal blood one hour after feeding using FTA cards.
- Completing a diagnostic questionnaire to identify clinical and subclinical issues on the farm.
Producers from all farming species have implemented the biomonitoring program and succeeded to manage mycotoxin related stress with the help of the detoxifier technology.
Mycotoxin biomarker analysis is a breakthrough in stress management, offering producers the first reliable way to measure true risk and mitigation effectiveness on their own farms. This tool helps quantify detoxifier benefits, optimize animal health, and maximize ROI. Potentially saving hundreds of thousands, or even millions.