A review of mycotoxin contamination in the feed of poultry: An impact towards immunosuppression

Mycotoxins, important secondary metabolites, are grown on feedstuffs and cause toxicologic syndromes in poultry. Those play a significant role in causing mortality and decreased production performance. Ingestion of mycotoxins results in altered immune response and decreases resistance to infectious disease. Feeds, used for poultry, are contaminated with various types of moulds that are responsible for the production of mycotoxin. Mycotoxins cause different kinds of toxicities such as acute and chronic toxicities, genotoxicity, mutagenicity, carcinogenicity, immunotoxicity, and teratogenicity in poultry. So, those cause immune suppression through alteration of T or B activity and macrophage-effector cell function, declined production of antibody and immunoglobulin, and inhabited DNA, RNA, and protein synthesis.