| Abstract: | Twelve pigs were subjected to model trials to study the effect of an aflatoxin-contaminated pig-fattening diet, administered for 26 days. Aflatoxin B1 constituted 55% of the aflatoxins tested. The aflatoxin concentrations used in the trials were 30 and 300 micrograms per 1 kg of feed. No clinical effect of aflatoxin was observed in the pigs. Aflatoxins were found to have adverse effects on proteosynthesis. A decrease in the weight gains of the pigs was accompanied by a decrease in the total plasma protein and, in the group with the higher aflatoxin dose (300 micrograms per 1 kg of feed), also by an increase in the total bilirubin concentration in the blood serum. Perilobular steatosis, dissociation of the liver trabeculae, and more pronounced activation of the reticuloendothelial system were demonstrated by the histological examination of liver tissue. An increase in the content of hydroxyproline was recorded in the muscle of the experimental pigs. It is documented by the results that the aflatoxin dose of 30 micrograms per 1 kg of feed (the recommended maximum admissible concentration for the Czech Socialist Republic) is high enough to reduce the performance of pigs and the biological value of their meat. |
