PSIX-16 Effects of dietary cadmium on production performance, hepatic injury and tissue residue in laying hens

Abstract

Abstract Cadmium (Cd) is an environmental pollutant with destructive impact on many organ systems, such as chronic kidney diseases, liver diseases, osteoporosis, cardiovascular diseases and so on. The liver is the target organ of cadmium exposure. This study was performed to evaluate the adverse effects of prolonged high intake of dietary cadmium on production performance, serum biochemistry, liver antioxidant status, histopathology and the residue in liver and eggs in laying hens. 72 Hy-Line Brown laying hens aged 40 weeks were randomly allocated to four groups, with three replicates of six birds. Each group was fed a corn-soy basal diet (BD) and an oral dose of Cd at 0, 15, 30, 60 mg/kg per day for 6 weeks, respectively. Results revealed that the administration of 60 mg/kg Cd had no significant influences (P > 0.05) on production performance. Compared with the control, dietary Cd significantly increased (P < 0.05) the activities of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST). Furthermore, compared with the control, hepatic glutathione peroxide (GPX) activities were significantly decreased (P < 0.05), while malondialdehyde (MDA) was significantly increased (P < 0.05) when supplemented Cd over 15 mg/kg, and glutathione (GSH) was only decreased significantly (P < 0.05) in 30 mg/kg Cd group. Hepatic histopathology also showed hepatic injury, mild vasculitis and a small amount of lymphocyte infiltration occurred in the liver tissue in 15 mg/kg Cd group and the symptoms were exacerbated with the increased dose. In the 60 mg/kg group, hepatic sinusoidal dilatation and mild congestion were also observed. The residue of Cd in the liver and yolk were increased (P < 0.05) with the increasing concentration of dietary Cd. In conclusion, hepatic injuries in laying hens were induced when diets supplemented with Cd up to 15 mg/kg. Cd levels also managed to accumulated in liver and yolk of laying hens.