Effects of dietary fumonisin on organ characteristics and some serum biochemical parameters of bucks

Abstract

The effects of dietary fumonisin on weight change; organ weights and serum biochemistry of male rabbits were investigated in a 5-week feeding trial. Thirty individually-caged crossbred male rabbits of about 25 weeks of age, and an average initial weight of 1.53kg, were randomly allotted to three dietary treatments comprising a control (containing 0.35mg fumonisin / kg) and two test diets (containing 12.30 and 24.60mg fumonisin / kg) constituting diets 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Each dietary treatment had 10 replicates of 1 buck each. Results showed that the dry matter intake (DMI) and the relative change in body weight were significantly ( p < 0.05) influenced with DMI of the bucks fed diet 3 being significantly (P>0.05) lower than those fed diets 1 and 2, while the relative bodyweight change for animals on diet 3 being 25.90 and 27.12% of those on diets 1 and 2, respectively. The epididymal and perirenal fat (adipose capsule) weights as well as their relative values were also significantly (p < 0.05) influenced by the dietary fumonisin levels, with the relative weights of the epididymides and the perirenal fat of the animals on diet 3 were 76.83 and 41.80% of those placed on diet 1, respectively, compared with 95.12 and 90.98% recorded by animals on diet 2 for the respective parameters. The serum sodium, potassium, chloride and cholesterol however, tend to increase with increased dietary fumonisin. The study demonstrated that bucks exposed to dietary fumonisin concentration of about 12.30mg/kg diet would suffer depressed weight gain and decreased epididymal and perirenal fat weights and increased cholesterol concentration while dietary fumonisin above 12.30mg/kg would result in reduced DMI.


Keywords: Buck; fumonisin; serum biochemistry; epididymal; perirenal fat weights

Moor Journal of Agricultural Research Vol. 7 (1&2) 2006 pp. 28-34