The Effects of an Antimycotoxin Additive Based on Aluminosilicate and Marine Macroalgae in a Fumonisin-Contaminated Diet on the Performance and Health of Growing Lambs

Fumonisins are important feed contaminants that can impair animal health and productive performance. This study evaluated whether the inclusion of an antimycotoxin additive based on aluminosilicate and marine macroalgae could mitigate the adverse effects of dietary fumonisin in growing lambs. Thirty-two male Lacaune lambs were assigned to four groups (n = 8): control, control + additive, fumonisin, and fumonisin + additive. The additive was included at 3 kg/t of feed, and fumonisin was provided at 33 ppm. The experimental period lasted 42 days. Productive performance, serum biochemical parameters, oxidative status, and hematological variables were evaluated throughout the experiment. Fumonisin exposure impaired performance from days 15 to 42, reducing body weight gain, average daily gain, and feed efficiency and increasing feed conversion ratio, without affecting dry matter intake. Fumonisin also increased serum creatine kinase activity and altered cholesterol, gamma-glutamyl transferase, and aspartate aminotransferase, along with increasing thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and oxidant-related fluorescence. Time-dependent alterations were also observed in urea, ferritin, and hematological variables. Inclusion of the additive partially attenuated several fumonisin-associated responses, with Fumonisin + additive lambs showing performance and health-related variables closer to those of Control animals for several outcomes. Dietary fumonisin at 33.9 ppm adversely affected productive performance and was associated with biochemical, oxidative, and hematological alterations in growing lambs. Inclusion of the aluminosilicate- and marine macroalgae-based additive partially attenuated these responses, indicating potential for mitigating the biological consequences of fumonisin exposure, although complete protection was not achieved.