Effect of Dietary Vitamin E on Growth Performance, Immunity and Antioxidant Capacity in Male Jiangnan White Goslings from 1 to 28 d of Age

Qingyu Sun,Xuean Xu,Zhiyue Wang,Jingru Liang,Jun Yu,Haiming Yang

doi:10.3390/agriculture12010083

Abstract

This experiment aimed to investigate effects of the different dietary levels of vitamin E (VE) on the growth performance, immunity and antioxidant capacity of goslings. A total of 240 1-day-old, male Jiangnan white goslings were selected and randomly divided into 6 groups. Each treatment included five replicates. The basal diet was supplemented with 6 concentrations of VE (0, 12, 24, 36, 48 and 60 mg DL-α-tocopherol acetate/kg). The results were as follows: (1) The α-tocopherol content in the serum and liver of goslings increased linearly as supplemental VE increased in diet (p < 0.05). (2) The body weight (BW) and average daily gain (ADG) increased quadratically with increasing dietary VE supplementation (p < 0.05). Dietary VE supplementation could significantly reduce the feed/gain ratio (F/G) (p < 0.05). (3) Dietary supplementation with VE could significantly improve the contents of immunoglobulin A (IgA) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) in the serum of the goslings (p < 0.05). The content of interferon-γ (IFN-γ) in the serum was significantly reduced with VE supplementation (p < 0.05). (4) Dietary supplementation with VE could significantly improve serum and liver catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities and liver total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) (p < 0.05); Serum and liver MDA contents were significantly reduced with VE supplementation (p < 0.05). In summary, dietary supplementation with VE could improve growth performance, immunity and antioxidant capacity. Based on broken-line regression analysis, the dietary VE supplementation level for ADG was 12.51 mg/kg, but higher supplementation level should be considered to improve immunity and antioxidant capacity.

Highlights

Vitamin E (VE), divided into tocopherols and tocotrienols, is one of the essential fatsoluble vitamins for animals
(3) Dietary supplementation with VE could significantly improve the contents of immunoglobulin A (IgA) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) in the serum of the goslings (p < 0.05)
(4) Dietary supplementation with VE could significantly improve serum and liver catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities and liver total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) (p < 0.05); Serum and liver MDA contents were significantly reduced with VE supplementation (p < 0.05)

Summary

Introduction

Vitamin E (VE), divided into tocopherols and tocotrienols, is one of the essential fatsoluble vitamins for animals. Α-Tocopherol has high biological activity and is the main storage form of VE in animal tissues accounting for more than 90% of VE [2]. The content of α-tocopherol in the blood and liver were shown to depend on the dietary VE levels added to feed [3]. Chae et al [6] reported that adding 10–200 mg/kg α-tocopherol acetate to broiler diets could significantly improve growth performance compared with that of the control group with no supplementation. Adding 5–100 mg/kg α-tocopherol acetate to starter White Pekin duck diet was shown to significantly improve growth performance compared with that of the control group with no supplementation [7]. Adding 220 mg/kg α-tocopherol acetate to broiler diets was shown to relieve inflammation [9]. When animals lack VE, the content of α-tocopherol in tissues decreases and the degree of lipid peroxidation increases [12]

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