Ultrastructure of hepatic and renal lesions in chickens fed aflatoxin

Mollenhauer, H.H.; Corrier, D.E.; Huff, W.E.; Kubena, L.F.; Harvey, R.B.; Droleskey, R.E.

Ultrastructure of hepatic and renal lesions in chickens fed aflatoxin

1989

Male broiler chicks were given feed and water ad libitum from hatching through 3 weeks of age. The feed contained 0, 1.25, 2.5, and 5.0 microgram of aflatoxin/g of feed. The chicks were killed by cervical dislocation and specimens of liver and kidney were obtained for electron microscopy on days 3, 6, 9, 17, and 21. In chicks fed 5.0 microgram of alfatoxin, the primary lesions in liver were hepatocellular lipidosis, enlargement of bile canaliculi, reduction in mitochondrial size, mild lymphocytic infiltration, and hepatocellular degeneration and necrosis. Similar lesions were noticed in some chicks fed 2.5 microgram of aflatoxin, but none was observed in chicks fed at 1.25 microgram of aflatoxin. At 5 microgram of aflatoxin, the most consistent lesion in the kidney was thickening of the glomerular basement membrane. Similar glomerular lesions were observed at 2.5 microgram of aflatoxin, but not at 1.25 microgram of alfatoxin. Some foot processes of the glomerular epithelial cells were poorly developed. Fusion of foot processes was not observed and fibrous material was not evident in the basement membrane. The pseudopodia of endothelial cells lining the thickened basement membrane were depleted in number or were absent. Degenerative changes also were observed in the cells of the proximal convoluted tubules, but these were less consistent than those of the glomerulus.

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