title: Effect of aflatoxin ingestion in feed on body weight gain and tissue residues in rabbits.
abstract: The effect of a subclinical dose of aflatoxin on body weight gain and risk assessment of aflatoxin in muscle tissue for food safety were the focus of the study. Thirty New Zealand rabbits, 2 months old, were used. A group of 24 rabbits was fed aflatoxin 2 p.p.m. day-1 for a period of 4 months. The weights of the individual aflatoxin-fed rabbits and those of the control group were recorded weekly. Aflatoxin was withdrawn from a group of six rabbits chosen at random for a period of 4 weeks before the termination of the experiment. All rabbits were necropsied at the end of the study for gross and microscopic changes of the internal organs. Samples of muscle tissue were also collected and analysed chemically for aflatoxin using thin-layer chromatography. Significant weight loss equivalent to 13% mortality was found in the aflatoxin-fed rabbits. Characteristic pathological changes were found. Aflatoxins B1 and G2 were detected in muscle tissue at alarming concentrations far exceeding the permissible levels in food for human consumption in the aflatoxin-fed group. No detectable aflatoxins were found in the aflatoxin-withdrawal group.
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Serum and Vaccine Research Institute, Abbasia, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Dimitri
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Gabal
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Saleh
mesh_terms: D000348:Aflatoxins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D004032:Diet; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal; D011817:Rabbits; D015430:Weight Gain
chemical_list: D000348:Aflatoxins