Abstract
The aim of the study was to investigate element concentrations in the hair of growing and adult dogs. Overall, 39 dogs were recruited in a kennel, split in 4 groups: G1, 10 puppies of small size breeds; G2, 6 puppies of medium size breed; G3, 11 adult dogs of medium size breeds; G4, 12 adult dogs of toy breeds. The dogs of each group were fed 4 different complete diets, according to the requirements. Hairs were sampled at the beginning of the study (D0) and after 60 days (D60). Elements were analysed in triplicate using ICP-OES. In the hair of the adult dogs of the G3 group the concentration of Al (p < .01) was lower and in the G2 group the concentration of Zn was higher (p < .01) than in the other groups. Cu and Mn concentrations in the hair were higher (p < .01 and p < .05, respectively) in puppies fed G1 and G2 diets in comparison to adult dogs fed G3 and G43 diets. Hair concentrations of K, Li and Na were higher at D60 in comparison with D0 (p < .01). Correlations between concentrations in the hair of Al and Fe, Al and Mg and Fe and Mg were highly significant (p < .01). Present data do not support the use of element concentrations in the hair to assess their nutritional supply but, likely, they can be used in relation to physiological status of the animals. Further studies are required to investigate the factors affecting element concentrations in the hair of dogs.HighlightsConcentrations of Cu, Mn and Zn in the hair differed between growing and adult dogs;Al concentration in hair was highly correlated with Fe and Mg;Several factors other than nutritional supply regulate element deposition in the hair
Highlights
The element status of an organism can be investigated in various biological fluids and tissues, as blood, urine and teguments (Długaszek 2019), and in some studies, hair has been considered a matrix to assess retrospectively element concentrations in relation to the nutritional status of an individual (Wojciak et al 2004)
From a nutritional point of view, elements are often classified as macroelements, meaning that the inclusion in the diet is in the order of g/kg (Ca, Cl, K, Mg, Na, P, S) and microelements, which are included in mg/kg (Cr, Cu, F, Fe, I, Mn, Si, Se, Zn)
The study was performed to evaluate the concentrations of elements in the hair of growing and adult dogs fed diets differing for composition and elemental supply
Summary
The element status of an organism can be investigated in various biological fluids and tissues, as blood, urine and teguments (Długaszek 2019), and in some studies, hair has been considered a matrix to assess retrospectively element concentrations in relation to the nutritional status of an individual (Wojciak et al 2004). According to these authors, the hair closer to the scalp is highly related to the nutrient intakes of minerals in the previous 6–8 weeks, even though the chemical form of element supplementations has to be taken into consideration (Kuhlman and Rompala 1998). The definition of reference values of essential macro and micro nutrient and toxic elements can form an Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here
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