TISSUE DISTRIBUTION AND METABOLISM OF AFLATOXIN B1-14C IN LAYER CHICKENS

The effects of administering low levels of aflatoxin B₁-¹⁴C by crop intubation daily for 14 days to layer chickens were determined. Studies on the distribution of ¹⁴C in the blood, selected organs, tissues, eggs and excreta were conducted. No toxic effects were observed in layer chickens during the course of the experiment. The layer chickens excreted 92.15% of the ¹⁴C administered. Of the ¹⁴C retained, 19.5, 16.1, 3.9, 7.2, 26.4 and 26.9% were detected in the blood, liver, heart, gizzard, breast and leg, respectively. No radioactivity was detected in egg samples collected. Chemical assay of those samples demonstrating radioactivity revealed that 81.2% of the radioactivity in these substrates was soluble in aqueous extracts while approximately 10% was ex tractable by classical extraction procedures. Treatment of the aqueous extracts for conjugated steroids by treatment with Beta-glucuronidase revealed that 31.5% of the ¹⁴C detected in the aqueous extract was a liberated glucuronide conjugate of aflatoxin M₁?¹⁴C