Effects of aflatoxin B1 on growth performance and liver function of juvenile Pelteobagrus fulvidraco

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of aflatoxin B1 on growth performance, digestive enzyme activities in intestinal tract and liver function of juvenile Pelteobagrus fulvidraco. Four experimental diets were prepared to contain 0 (control), 50, 100, 200 μg/kg aflatoxin B1. Each diet was randomly assigned to triplicate cages of 50 fish with an initial average weight of (6.00±0.10) g for 8 weeks. The results showed that: ① There were no significant differences in survival rate, feed coefficient ratio and specific growth rates of juvenile Pelteobagrus fulvidraco among all groups. The activity of trypsin in the AFB1 group significantly increased compared with the control group. When the AFB1 concentration reached 100 and 200 μg/kg, the amylase and lipase activities significantly decreased; ② With increasing AFB1 concentration, the levels of aspartate aminotransferase(AST), alanine aminotransferase(ALT), glucose, triglyceride, total bile acid and total cholesterol contents in serum significantly increased, and the AST, ALT activities in the liver significantly decreased; ③With increasing AFB1 concentration, the catalase activity and malondiadehyde content in the liver significantly increased. The superoxide dismutase activity significantly increased when the AFB1 concentration reached 100 and 200 μg/kg; ④ With increasing AFB1 concentration, the expression levels of sod and il-1β in the liver were significantly up-regulated, the expression levels of cat, il-10 and il-8 in the liver were significantly up-regulated when the AFB1 concentration reached 200 μg/kg; ⑤ Histological observations showed that an increase in the concentration of AFB1 caused some liver cells to present slight atrophy, hepatocyte nucleus shifted, cell boundary blurred, liver cell vacuolation degre. The results showed that under the experimental conditions, there was no significant effect on the growth of juvenile Pelteobagrus fulvidraco with the concentration of AFB1≤200 μg/kg, but it could affect the digestion and absorption function of the intestines, cause oxidative stress and inflammatory reactions in the liver, and result in liver function damage with the concentration of AFB1≥50 μg/kg.