In vivo detoxification of Fusarium toxins.

Fusarium toxins are of great practical relevance in animal feeding since they may occur in toxicologically relevant concentrations. Therefore, many attempts have been made to find ways to detoxify contaminated feedstuffs or diets in order to cope with the problem. The supplementation of contaminated diets with detoxifying agents seems to be easily feasible, and in vitro results seem to be convincing. According to the Guideline 87/153/EEC of the Council of the European Communities, efficacy has to be proven by using an experimental design justified by the claims for use of the additive. In a review of the literature, only a few studies investigated specific parameters that could clearly reflect the claimed mode of action of the additives, and those demonstrated no measurable detoxifying effects. The majority of investigations focused on rather non-specific performance parameters, while many of these applied incomplete experimental designs. Nevertheless, most of the experiments did not demonstrate preventive effects. It is concluded that testing of currently available detoxifying agents did not follow the Council Directive in style and since the claim for their use was not proven. The application of complete two by two factorial experimental designs, the investigation of mycotoxins and/or metabolites in physiological samples as specific parameters and the verification of the specificity of the detoxifying agent is recommended for future in vivo investigations.