Effect of different sources of selenium on performance and characteristics of immune system of broiler chickens

Roozbeh Shabani,Jafar Fakhraei,Hossein Mansoori Yarahmadi,Alireza Seidavi

doi:10.1590/rbz4820180256

Roozbeh Shabani, Jafar Fakhraei + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/rbz4820180256

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Abstract

ABSTRACT An experiment was conducted based on a completely randomized design with 500 Ross 308 broiler chickens to investigate the effect of three different sources of selenium on performance and characteristics of immune system. Chickens were arranged in 10 treatments and five repetitions (10 chickens for each repetition). Ten treatments of experimental diet were considered in the study, including a basal diet (control); 0.5, 0.8, and 1.2 mg nano-selenium + basal diet (three treatments); 0.5, 0.8, 1.2 mg selenomethionine + basal diet; and 65, 80, and 100 mg vitamin E + selenium + basal diet. Findings suggested that adding selenomethionine (1.2 mg) to the basal diet resulted in a significant effect on feed conversion ratio and weight of broilers. In fact, weight and bursa of Fabricius were significantly under influence of the diets containing nano-selenium. Moreover, a significant difference was observed in the antibodies produced against Newcastle and influenza as well as the total immunoglobin and IgG produced against sheep red blood cell at two stages in the group treated with nanoselenium. Finally, results indicated that nano-selenium can better improve performance and immune system of broilers compared with diets containing selenomethionine and vitamin E.

Highlights

Optimized production and sustainable health in poultry require providing sufficient necessary nutrients which are available to the body
While the difference between increased weight of the group treated with nano-selenium and the control group was not significant, it showed more improvement compared with the group receiving vitamin E + selenium treatment
Feed intake in treatment 65 mg vitamin E + selenium + basal diet significantly reduced in comparison with that of the control and treatments 0.5 mg nano-selenium + basal diet, 0.8 mg nano-selenium + basal diet, 1.2 mg nano-selenium + basal diet and 1.2 mg selenomethionine + basal diet (P≤0.05) (Table 2)

Summary

Introduction

Optimized production and sustainable health in poultry require providing sufficient necessary nutrients which are available to the body. Most feeds commonly provided for farm animals are deficient in some nutrients and, need supplements (Umesh et al, 2004). While required only at minute doses, selenium is an essential feature of feed supplements having a special position among the natural antioxidants available in feed and is an inseparable component of selenoproteins involved in regulating physiologic processes of the body of animals (Zhang et al, 2017). As a component of intracellular glutathione peroxidase enzyme, selenium provides the first and second defense layer of the body against oxidative agents. Glutathione peroxidase is a crucial enzyme for reducing oxidative reactions in the internal structures of the cells as free radicals are continuously produced during physiological activities, and their production is even increased under stress conditions. The main sources of free radical production in cells are electron transport chain in mitochondria, metabolism enzymes, and immune systems

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