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. 2024 Oct 17;14(20):2996.
doi: 10.3390/ani14202996.

Biological Mechanisms of Aflatoxin B1-Induced Bile Metabolism Abnormalities in Ducklings

Yihong Chu  1 , Aimei Yu  1 , Huanbin Wang  1 , Shahid Ali Rajput  2 , Qianqian Yu  1 , Desheng Qi  1
Affiliations

Biological Mechanisms of Aflatoxin B1-Induced Bile Metabolism Abnormalities in Ducklings

Yihong Chu et al. Animals (Basel). .

Abstract

This study investigated the effects and biological mechanisms of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) on the health and bile metabolism of ducklings. Forty-eight 1-day-old ducklings were randomly assigned to two groups, with six replicates per group. The control group was fed a basic diet, while the AFB1 group received a diet containing 90 µg/kg of AFB1. The experiment lasted for 2 weeks. The results showed that 90 µg/kg AFB1 caused abnormal bile metabolism; damaged liver cell nuclei and mitochondria; and significantly decreased body weight, average daily weight gain, and levels of albumin, total protein, cholesterol, total superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione. It also significantly increased feed conversion efficiency, along with alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, total bile acids, and malondialdehyde levels. In the liver, the expression levels of CYP7A1, SCD, and other genes were significantly upregulated, while BSEP, FASN, HMGCR, CAT, and other genes were significantly downregulated. In conclusion, AFB1 causes abnormal bile metabolism and impairs the overall health and liver function of ducklings. Its mechanism of action may involve changes in gene expression related to bile acid metabolism, lipid metabolism, oxidative damage, and cancer pathways.

Keywords: aflatoxin B1; antioxidant capacity; bile metabolism; duckling; liver injury; transcriptome sequencing.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Effect of AFB1 on liver health and tissue structure. (A) Effect of AFB1 on the appearance of the liver. (B) H&E staining of liver tissue (200×). (C) Oil Red O staining of liver tissue (200×). (D) Analysis of the ultrastructure of liver cell nuclei and mitochondria (10,000×). Red arrow: cell nucleus; green arrow: mitochondria.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Liver transcriptome sequencing analysis results. (A) Differential gene expression status. (B) GO enrichment analysis of differentially expressed genes. (C) KEGG enrichment analysis of differentially expressed genes. (D) qPCR results (n = 6), a,b columns with different owercase letters indicated significant differences between the compared groups (p < 0.05).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Biological mechanism of AFB1-induced abnormal bile metabolism in duckling liver.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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