Hypophyseal acetylcholinesterase, and growth hormones of broiler chicken fed Ficus carica and vitamin C supplemented diets

Abstract

The research was conducted to investigate hypophyseal acetylcholinesterase and growth hormones of broiler chickens fed Ficus carica and Vitamin C supplemented diets. 160-day-old chicks were randomly assigned to 4 treatments supplemented with Ficus carica and vitamin C in 4 replicates and 10 birds per replicate. At the end of the 8th week, the brains and hypophyses of 3 randomly selected birds per treatment were removed and tested for Acetylcholinesterase activities and total protein determination while blood samples were collected for hormonal assay. Results showed that total protein of the whole brain (0.50 mg/dl) and cerebellum (0.12 mg/dl) were significantly (p<0.05) lower in birds fed control diet while that of the olfactory lobe was significantly higher than that of the control (0.25 mg/dl). However, the acetylcholinesterase activities (µmol/g tissue) of the optic lobe (0.36), Cerebellum (0.22), and medulla (0.25) of birds fed the control diet were significantly (p<0.05) higher than those fed supplemented diets. Also, all hormonal assays tested were significantly influenced by the treatments with the exception of thyroxine. Birds fed diet 4 had the highest record for most growth hormonal assay. From the results obtained, Diet IV could be recommended in broiler chickens’ diets for superior growth promotion.