Length of villi (µm) and crypt depth (µm) in duodenum, jejunum and ileum after 3 weeks feeding a control diet or feed contaminated with DON, either or not supplemented with an adsorbing agent. Results are presented as mean values and standard deviations of fifteen villi or crypts measured from 8 chickens per treatment group.

<p>a,b mean values within a row with unlike superscript letters are significantly different (p≤0.05).</p

Effects of DON and an adsorbent on oxidative stress in the liver of broiler chickens.

<p>Results are presented as mean (± SEM) mRNA expression. Fold change in gene expression levels of the chicken liver relative to control group, which is considered 1. * Indicates significant differences between treated and control animals.</p

Effects of DON and an adsorbent on intestinal barrier in broiler chickens.

<p>Results are presented as mean (± SEM) mRNA expression. Fold change in gene expression levels of the chicken intestines relative to control group, which is considered 1. ^a–c Different lower-case letters indicate significant differences between groups.</p

Eosinophil, macrophage, goblet cell and mast cell counts in the caecum of naïve and immune animals.

<p>Results are shown as average + SD. n.s.: not significant.</p

MTT assay of viability of infective larvae after culture with eosinophils.

<p>Eosinophils were purified from blood of 1 animal at 14 DPI. 2.10⁶/ml eosinophils were incubated together with 100 infective L3 <i>A. suum</i> larvae. Viability was determined by the MTT assay after 3 hours of incubation. O: no serum added. −: Serum pooled from 5 naive animals added. +: Serum pooled from 5 immune animals added. HI−: heat inactivated serum pooled from 5 naïve animals. HI+: heat inactivated serum pooled from 5 immune animals added. Results are shown as mean + SD of three incubations. The bars indicate statistically significant differences between groups (p<0,05).</p

Eosinophil ROS production in response to direct contact with infective larvae.

<p>Eosinophils were purified from blood of animals at 14 DPI. 2.10⁵ eosinophils from 1 animal were seeded per well in HBSS. PMA: Phorbol myristate acetate (5 µg/ml), positive control. HBSS: negative control. O: no serum added. −: Serum pooled from 5 naive animals added. +: Serum pooled from 5 immune animals added. HI−: heat inactivated serum pooled from 5 naïve animals. HI+: heat inactivated serum pooled from 5 immune animals added. Results shown are expressed as the fold increase in ROS production compared to negative control (HBSS) and are the average + SD of 3 experiments with different animals. The bars indicate statistically significant differences between groups (p<0,05).</p

<i>A. suum</i> L3 larvae viability after culture with eosinophils.

<p>Eosinophils were purified from blood of animals at 14 DPI. Viability was assessed visually after 16 hours of incubation with 100 L3 larvae. O: no serum added. −: Serum pooled from 5 naive animals added. +: Serum pooled from 5 immune animals added. HI−: heat inactivated serum pooled from 5 naïve animals. HI+: heat inactivated serum pooled from 5 immune animals added. Results are shown as mean + SD of two independent experiments with three incubations each. a: significantly different than L3 cultured without eosinophils or serum (p<0,05). b: significantly different than L3 cultured with eosinophils without serum (p<0,05). c: significantly different than L3 cultured with eosinophils and serum from immune animals (p<0,05).</p

Infection protocol and worm counts.

a<p>: number of animals in the group.</p>b<p>: 100 <i>A. suum</i> eggs daily for 14 weeks.</p>c<p>: 5000 <i>A. suum</i> eggs 14 days prior to necropsy.</p>d<p>: 5000 <i>A. suum</i> eggs 24 hours prior to necropsy.</p>e<p>: worm counts determined in the small intestine.</p><p>N.D. Not determined.</p

Histopathological findings during infections with <i>A. suum</i> eggs and infections with L3 or L4 transferred larvae.

<p>Values are mean + SD of 5 animals. * p<0,05 versus control group; ** p<0,01 versus control group; *** p<0,001 versus control group.</p

Worm counts in the small intestine during an infection with 2000 <i>A. suum</i> eggs or 1000 lung stage larvae.

<p>Numbers shown are the average (SD) of 5 animals.</p