1998 Volume 1998 Issue 46 Pages 23-28
The purpose of this study was to investigate the enhancement of Salmonella typhimurium colonization and changes in the intestinal tract in chickens administered with ochratoxin A. Eleven-day old chickens received 108 colony-forming units S. typhimurium orally for 2 consecutive days. The 13-old-day chickens were administered a dose of ochratoxin A (2.0mg/kg/bird) orally. The number of S. typhimurium in both the duodenal and cecal contents of chickens administered with this dose of ochratoxin A increased significantly when compared with control birds. There were no significant differences in chickens administered doses of ochratoxin A below this level. There were significant differences in pH value, oxidation-reduction potential, and amount of acetic acid in duodenal and cecal contents between ochratoxin A-administered chickens and control ones. Number of feces were counted and decreased in chickens administered with ochratoxin A. Feed intake decreased by administration of ochratoxin A. Experi-mental evidence indicated that S. typhimurium colonization enhanced in the duodena and ceca of ochratoxin A-administered chickens and that fecal counts of chickens administrated with the ochratoxin A decreased.