Resumen de Efecto de la edad y el nivel de vitamina e en dietas de pollos broiler sobre la modulación de la respuesta inmune.
D. Menoyo, N. Naranjo Sáez de Tejada, A. Rey, Mohamed Frikha, Clemente J. López Bote, G.G. Mateos
The effects of age and dietary vitamin E concentration in the immune response of broiler were studied. A total of 336 Ross 308 chicks with an initial BW of 41.4 ± 2.6 g were randomly assigned to 3 experimental diets, a control diet with no added vitamin E and the same basal diet supplemented with 40 or 160 ppm of vitamin. The experimental unit was the cage with 16 birds and there were seven cages per treatment. At 7 and 21 d of age, 3 birds per cage were slaughtered and their spleen removed for cytokine gene expression analysis by real time RT-PCR. Interleukin 2 (IL2), myelomonocytic growth factor (MGF), and Interferon-gamma (IFNγ) gene expression were selected as indicators of immune system functionality. The expression of IL2, MGF and IFNγ increased (P < 0.05) by 2, 3.6, and 2.3 folds, respectively in birds fed the 160 ppm supplemented diet at 7 d of age when compared to those fed the control diet. No dietary effects were observed in cytokine gene expression in birds at 21 d of age. Under our experimental conditions the inclusion of 160 ppm of vitamin E in the diet enhances immune function during the first week of age of the chicks.
