Growth performance, digestibility, and plasma metabolomic profiles of Saanen goats exposed to different doses of aflatoxin B1
Haitao Shi, Jing Peng, Jingjing Hao, Xi Wang, Meng Xu, Shengli Li
Abstract
Aflatoxin contamination of feed poses a great risk to the global dairy industry. Analyzing the aflatoxin B 1 (AFB 1 )-induced metabonomic changes in ruminants and screening potential biomarkers for early diagnosis of AFB 1 exposure is urgently needed. Here, the effects of different doses (0, 50, and 500 g/kg of the diet, dry matter basis) of AFB 1 exposure on digestibility and performance of Saanen goats were studied, and a comprehensive untargeted metabolomic analysis was performed to reveal plasma metabonomic changes caused by the AFB 1 exposure. In the current study, AFB 1 exposure decreased total-tract nutrient digestibilities, nitrogen retention, total weight gain, and average daily gain of Saanen goats in a dose-dependent manner. Untargeted metabolomics revealed alterations in the plasma metabolome. A total of 3,310 and 1,462 ion peaks were obtained in positive and negative ion modes, respectively. Based on the screening criteria, 1,338 differential metabolites were detected between control and low-dose AFB 1 (50 g/kg) groups, 1,358 metabolites differed between control and high-dose AFB 1 (500 g/kg) groups, and 58 metabolites differed among all groups. Pathway analyses showed that choline metabolism in cancer and glycerophospholipid metabolism were significantly affected by the AFB 1 treatments. Moreover, dysregulation of amino acid metabolism was also observed in AFB 1 treated goats. The findings provided novel insights into the toxicity of AFB 1 in ruminants. Exploring the underlying molecular causes of the changes may help the development of rapid diagnostic techniques and effective interventions for AFB 1 intoxication.