Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is one of the most dangerous mycotoxins for humans and animals. This study aimed to investigate the effects of compound probiotics (CP), CP supernatant (CPS), AFB1-degradation enzyme (ADE) on chicken embryo primary intestinal epithelium, liver and kidney cell viabilities, and to determine the functions of CP + ADE (CPADE) or CPS + ADE (CPSADE) for alleviating cytotoxicity induced by AFB1. The results showed that AFB1 decreased cell viabilities in dose-dependent and time-dependent manners. The optimal AFB1 concentrations and reactive time for establishing cell damage models were 200 µg/L AFB1 and 12 h for intestinal epithelium cells, 40 µg/L and 12 h for liver and kidney cells. Cell viabilities reached 231.58% (p < 0.05) for intestinal epithelium cells with CP addition, 105.29% and 115.84% (p < 0.05) for kidney and liver cells with CPS additions. The further results showed that intestinal epithelium, liver and kidney cell viabilities were significantly decreased to 87.12%, 88.7% and 84.19% (p < 0.05) when the cells were exposed to AFB1; however, they were increased to 93.49% by CPADE addition, 102.33% and 94.71% by CPSADE additions (p < 0.05). The relative mRNA abundances of IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α, iNOS, NF-κB, NOD1 (except liver cell) and TLR2 in three kinds of primary cells were significantly down-regulated by CPADE or CPSADE addition, compared with single AFB1 group (p < 0.05), indicating that CPADE or CPSADE addition could alleviate cell cytotoxicity and inflammation induced by AFB1 exposure through suppressing the activations of NF-κB, iNOS, NOD1 and TLR2 pathways.
Keywords: Aflatoxin B1; Cell damage alleviation; Chicken embryo primary cells; Compound probiotics; Mycotoxin-degradation enzyme.