Adding 0.5% hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate to diets formulated with aflatoxin contaminated corn reduced the detrimental effects of the mycotoxin on live weight gains and feed intake. Hepatocellular changes normally associated with aflatoxin consumption could not be detected histopathologically in liver sections from pigs fed contaminated diets plus the aluminosilicate sorbent.
Previous research has demonstrated that hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate (HSCAS, or NovaSilÑ) tightly binds and immobilizes aflatoxins in the gastrointestinal tract of animals. This action markedly reduces the bioavailability and toxicity of these food and feedborne poisons. Since AfB1 is a potent developmental toxin in rats, /the/ objectives in this study were to evaluate the ability of HSCAS and a common zeolite (clinoptilolite) to protect the developing fetus. Aluminosilicates, HSCAS 1, HSCAS 2, and cliniptilolite, were added to the diet at a level of 0.5% (w/w) and administered to Sprague-Dawley rats throughout pregnancy. Test animals were dosed orally with AfB1 at 2 mg/kg bw dissolved in corn oil during gestation days 6-13, and dams and /fetuses/ were evaluated for various maternal, developmental and histological parameters on day 20. Clays, by themselves, were not toxic; AfB1 alone resulted in 75% maternal mortality, 98% embryonic resorptions and typical liver and kidney lesions. Animals treated with HSCAS 1 and HSCAS 2 (plus AfB1) were comparable to controls. /Hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate/
/OTHER TOXICITY INFORMATION/ ...In one study, individual particles from the lungs of 75 randomly selected autopsy cases were analyzed using an automated scanning electron microscopy /energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis system. An average of 613 million particles, of exogenous origin, per gram of dry lung tissue were found, the major classes of particles being silica, talc, aluminum silicates, and rutile. In the second study, lungs from 50 randomly selected autopsy cases were analyzed using gravimetric and X-ray diffraction analysis. The median total particulate material was 0.33 g, for cases in which samples were prepared by high temperature ashing, and 0.41 grams, for those in which nitric acid digestion was used. The median amount of quartz for all cases, was 0.044 g. Samples of eighteen of the 75 lungs previously analyzed by automated scanning electron microscopy were also analyzed using gravimetric and X-ray diffraction analysis. ... /Aluminum Silicates/
/LABORATORY ANIMALS: Acute Exposure/ Rabbits (2-3 kg each, sex not given, 1/treatment group), fasted for 24 hr, were administered powdered, crystalline, or pelletized sodium aluminosilicate (32, 16, 5, and 1 g/kg) in semi/solid agar or in 1 gm gelatin capsules by gastric intubation. Sodium aluminosilicate caused slight blanching and moderate edema of the inner stomach wall without remarkable micropathology when examined either 1 or 2 hours following ingestion. /Sodium aluminosilicate/