INTERVIEW 68 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE April 2025 Moreover, Galleon™ enables us to track how various factors, including mycotoxin exposure, affect the microbiome over time, and helps validate the effectiveness of interventions such as anti-mycotoxin agents. By translating complex microbial data into actionable insights, Galleon™ represents a significant advancement in precision poultry nutrition and health management. You mentioned that the microbiome can be influenced by several factors, including mycotoxins. What effects do mycotoxins specifically have on the intestinal microbiota of poultry? Mycotoxins have profound and detrimental effects on the intestinal microbiota of poultry. One of the primary effects of mycotoxins, particularly deoxynivalenol (DON), is that they slow down the maturation of the intestinal microbiota. This delayed maturation can have far-reaching consequences, as a mature and stable microbiota is essential for strong health and optimal performance. DON contamination also decreases the overall microbial diversity in the gut. Specifically, it leads to a decrease in beneficial bacterial populations which play critical roles in maintaining gut health through competitive exclusion, pathogen inhibition, and immune modulation. Simultaneously, mycotoxins may promote the proliferation of potentially harmful bacteria. This imbalance in microbial populations, known as dysbiosis, can disrupt the delicate ecological balance within the gut, leading to altered fermentation patterns, reduced production of beneficial metabolites, and impaired nutrient utilization. Finally, when birds consume mycotoxin-contaminated feed, these compounds can directly damage epithelial cells, compromising gut barrier integrity and creating an environment conducive to dysbiosis. These effects collectively demonstrate that DON and other mycotoxins can significantly disrupt the delicate balance of the intestinal microbiota in poultry. This disruption can lead to reduced nutrient absorption, weakened immune responses, and overall decreased health and performance. Can you share any trial results that illustrate the impact of mycotoxins on the microbiota? Our recent in-vivo trial investigating the effects of deoxynivalenol (DON) on poultry provided compelling evidence of disruption to the intestinal microbiota caused by mycotoxins. Birds were exposed to either an uncontaminated diet (NC) or to feed contaminated with 8.5ppm of DON (PC). The results showed that DON contamination led to significant performance decreases, including reduced body weight compared to control group (Figure 2). We also utilized Galleon™, which allowed for a comprehensive assessment of the intestinal microbiota. 1120 1100 1080 1060 1040 1020 Body Weight of Broilers (in g) at 21 days of age NC PC AMA1 AMA2 Notox AMA abc ab a abc abcd Figure 2. Effect of DON on weight of broiler chickens at 21 days of age and impact of three different AMAs (bars with different letters are statistically significant with p<0.05)
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