Immunological status of the progeny of breeder hens kept on ochratoxin A (OTA)-contaminated feed

Figures & data

Table 1.  Relative organ weights (% of body weight) of progeny chicks at the age of 2 weeks.

Group (mg OTA/kg)	A (0)	B (0.1)	C (0.5)	D (1.0)	E (3.0)	F (5.0)	G (10.0)
Progeny obtained from hens fed OTA-bearing feed for 7 days
Bursa of Fabricius	0.28 ± 0.04	0.27 ± 0.12	0.29 ± 0.03	0.27 ± 0.07	0.28 ± 0.05	0.22 ± 0.03	0.28 ± 0.04
Spleen	0.12 ± 0.04	0.15 ± 0.08	0.11 ± 0.01	0.12 ± 0.03	0.13 ± 0.03	0.10 ± 0.04	0.12 ± 0.04
Thymus	0.35 ± 0.14	0.27 ± 0.11	0.31 ± 0.06	0.39 ± 0.14	0.31 ± 0.17	0.47 ± 0.20	0.35 ± 0.14
Progeny obtained from hens fed OTA-bearing feed for 14 days
Bursa of Fabricius	0.31 ± 0.02^a	0.29 ± 0.08^a	0.31 ± 0.07^a	0.27 ± 0.09^a	0.23 ± 0.07^ab	0.15 ± 0.02^b	0.14 ± 0.02^b
Spleen	0.11 ± 0.04	0.10 ± 0.04	0.13 ± 0.03	0.09 ± 0.04	0.11 ± 0.04	0.12 ± 0.06	0.08 ± 0.01
Thymus	0.20 ± 0.02	0.22 ± 0.05	0.17 ± 0.03	0.15 ± 0.02	0.16 ± 0.05	0.16 ± 0.01	0.15 ± 0.02
Progeny obtained from hens fed OTA-bearing feed for 21 days
Bursa of Fabricius	0.28 ± 0.02^a	0.26 ± 0.01^b	0.25 ± 0.01^c	0.21 ± 0.02^e	0.22 ± 0.01^d	0.17 ± 0.02^f	0.15 ± 0.03^g
Spleen	0.26 ± 0.03	0.22 ± 0.04	0.23 ± 0.05	0.24 ± 0.05	0.23 ± 0.07	0.23 ± 0.06	0.16 ± 0.01
Thymus	0.38 ± 0.09^a	0.20 ± 0.07^b	0.24 ± 0.10^b	0.14 ± 0.06^b	0.16 ± 0.10^b	0.19 ± 0.08^b	0.22 ± 0.05^b

Values (mean ± SD) in each row (within a given set of progeny) followed by different letters are significantly different (P ≤ 0.05) from one another.

Table 2.  Immunohistochemical scoring (specific type of Ig-bearing cell/0.1 mm²) in the spleen and bursa of Fabricius of progeny of hens fed OTA-contaminated feed.

Group (mg OTA/kg)	Spleen			Bursa
	IgA	IgG	IgM	IgA	IgG	IgM
Progeny obtained from hens fed OTA-bearing feed for 7 days
A (0)	73.2 ± 7.6^a	27.2 ± 4.4	51.4 ± 1.3^a	571.4 ± 5.9^a	509.0 ± 17.6^a	56.6 ± 10.3^a
B (0.1)	70.0 ± 1.6^a	25.9 ± 1.6	46.5 ± 2.9^ab	537. ± 3.7^b	524.3 ± 18.7^a	49.4 ± 2.2^ab
C (0.5)	69.8 ± 6.7^a	25.9 ± 1.9	48.2 ± 3.8^ab	509.3 ± 15.5^c	532.7 ± 14.8^a	49.8 ± 4.4^ab
D (1.0)	56.2 ± 1.2^b	23.5 ± 4.3	44.2 ± 5.0^bc	413.0 ± 8.3^d	530.0 ± 17.4^a	44.8 ± 2.8^b
E (3.0)	44.4 ± 5.9^c	24.1 ± 1.6	37.9 ± 2.2^d	417.9 ± 17.2^d	457.8 ± 15.9^b	44.2 ± 0.9^b
F (5.0)	42.6 ± 2.1^c	23.6 ± 3.1	39.9 ± 4.6^cd	377.2 ± 20.7^e	430.9 ± 17.66^b	46.9 ± 1.6^b
G(10.0)	24.1 ± 2.8^d	21.4 ± 1.4	28.8 ± 2.2^e	357.4 ± 25.2^e	234.8 ± 11.7^c	34.8 ± 2.8^c
Progeny obtained from hens fed OTA-bearing feed for 14 days
A (0)	94.6 ± 5.0^a	29.4 ± 10.0^a	63.0 ± 15.0^a	586.6 ± 8.4^a	537.9 ± 21.6^a	29.4 ± 0.9^a
B (0.1)	99.8 ± 4.8^a	25.1 ± 2.0^ab	59.3 ± 4.9^ab	576.1 ± 9.8^a	556.2 ± 32.2^a	25.3 ± 1.1^b
C (0.5)	91.6 ± 1.6^a	24.7 ± 1.1^ab	53.1 ± 0.6^abc	516.7 ± 15.0^b	533.1 ± 48.1^a	23.7 ± 1.9^bc
D (1.0)	75.9 ± 3.4^b	23.0 ± 3.6^abc	49.0 ± 5.7^bcd	445.7 ± 11.1^c	520.4 ± 15.10^ab	20.8 ± 2.3^c
E (3.0)	72.4 ± 15.9^b	22.4 ± 3.6^abc	42.4 3.4^cd	332.1 ± 13.5^e	481.3 ± 8.0^b	22.2 ± 2.5^bc
F (5.0)	69.3 ± 3.5^b	18.9 ± 4.7^bc	37.2 ± 2.9^d	342.6 ± 14.8^de	421.8 ± 9.6^c	23.7 ± 2.5^bc
G(10.0)	46.3 ± 3.9^c	14.2 ± 2.8^c	38.9 ± 7.1^d	363.2 ± 23.4^d	362.6 ± 29.1^d	17.3 ± 1.6^d
Progeny obtained after 21 days of OTA feeding to hens
A (0)	77.0 ± 1.6^a	41.8 ± 4.0^a	53.7 ± 10.5^a	555.6 ± 7.9^a	610.7 ± 15.9^a	45.3 ± 1.0^a
B (0.1)	70.4 ± 1.1^ab	38.7 ± 0.4^ab	45.1 ± 2.5^ab	538.1 ± 11.4^a	627.6 ± 2.5^a	47.3 ± 2.2^a
C (0.5)	60.1 ± 7.7^bc	35.2 ± 8.3^abd	34.0 ± 3.8^cd	559.2 ± 22.6^a	614.4 ± 14.7^a	42.6 ± 2.2^ab
D (1.0)	56.6 ± 4.6^c	32.5 ± 6.0^bcd	39.7 ± 6.2^bc	474.9 ± 30.8^b	607.4 ± 19.0^a	39.9 ± 1.6^bc
E (3.0)	54.9 ± 3.4^c	27.6 ± 5.0^cd	34.8 ± 2.8^bcd	464.4 ± 12.5^b	556.2 ± 4.3^b	39.7 ± 1.4^c
F (5.0)	56.0 ± 7.4^c	24.9 ± 2.2^d	38.7 ± 5.0^bc	451.4 ± 20.0^b	544.8 ± 9.8^b	36.8 ± 0.7^d
G(10.0)	36.0 ± 10.5^d	26.1 ± 2.9^d	26.1 ± 2.9^d	324.5 ± 9.4c	551.4 ± 11.0^b	39.1 ± 0.7^cd

Values (mean ± SD) in each column (within a given set of progeny) followed by different letters are significantly different (P ≤ 0.05) from one another.

Figure 1.  Photomicrograph of bursa of Fabricius from representative progeny chick of a Group A hen (control) fed OTA-free feed. IgG-bearing cells in medullary region shown here display positive DAB staining (DAB & Hematoxylin stain; 100× magnification).

Figure 2.  Photomicrograph of bursa of Fabricius from representative progeny chick of a Group B hen fed OTA-contaminated feed at 0.1 mg/kg for 14 days. IgA-bearing cells seen here display positive DAB staining (DAB & Hematoxylin stain; 100× magnification).

Figure 3.  Photomicrograph of bursa of Fabricius from representative progeny chick of a Group G hen fed OTA-contaminated feed at 10 mg OTA/kg feed for 21 days. The relatively few IgA-bearing cells (DAB stained) present here are indicated by arrow heads (DAB & Hematoxylin stain; 600× magnification).

Figure 4.  Photomicrograph of bursa of Fabricius from representative progeny chick of a Group E hen fed OTA-contaminated feed at 3 mg OTA/kg feed for 21 days. IgG-bearing cells in medullary region shown here display positive DAB staining (DAB & Hematoxylin stain; 100× magnification).

Table 3.  Lymphoblastogenic response against PHA-P in progeny of OTA-fed breeder hens.

Increased skin thickness (mm)	Groups (mg OTA/kg feed)
	A (0)	B (0.1)	C (0.5)	D (1.0)	E (3.0)	F (5.0)	G (10.0)
Progeny obtained from hens fed OTA-bearing feed for 7 days
After 24 h	0.79 ± 0.09^a	0.67 ± 0.03^a	0.66 ± 0.04^a	0.65 ± 0.16^a	0.46 ± 0.02^b	0.45 ± 0.04^b	0.22 ± 0.13^c
After 48 h	0.60 ± 0.21	0.51 ± 0.12	0.38 ± 0.06	0.34 ± 0.34	0.37 ± 0.15	0.26 ± 0.26	0.22 ± 0.13
Progeny obtained from hens fed OTA-bearing feed for 14 days
After 24 h	0.75 ± 0.10^a	0.60 ± 0.09^ab	0.54 ± 0.13^ab	0.47 ± 0.13^ab	0.43 ± 0.11^b	0.36 ± 0.26^b	0.38 ± 0.19^b
After 48 h	0.56 ± 0.13^a	0.53 ± 0.04^a	0.46 ± 0.03^ab	0.46 ± 0.16^ab	0.29 ± 0.11^bc	0.20 ± 0.16^c	0.10 ± 0.05^c
Progeny obtained from hens fed OTA-bearing feed for 21 days
After 24 h	0.71 ± 0.11^a	0.69 ± 0.05^a	0.63 ± 0.10^a	0.58 ± 0.12^ab	0.55 ± 0.05^ab	0.44 ± 0.05^bc	0.32 ± 0.12^c
After 48 h	0.43 ± 0.04^a	0.39 ± 0.15^a	0.39 ± 0.10^a	0.30 ± 0.05^ab	0.29 ± 0.04^ab	0.22 ± 0.18^ab	0.10 ± 0.14^b

Values (mean ± SD) in each row (within a given set of progeny) followed by different letters are significantly different (P ≤ 0.05) from one another.