Effect of parenteral supplementation of vitamin E plus selenium on nutrient digestibility, productive performance and some serum biochemical indicators of lambs

ABSTRACT
This study designed to evaluate the effect of parenteral supplementation of vitamin E plus
selenium on nutrient digestibility, productive performance and some serum biochemical indicators
of Ossimi lambs. The experiment carried out using 24 growing lambs averaged 3 months old and
18.58 ± 1.46 kg BW. Animals were fed on concentrate feed mixture (CFM) and soybean straw (SS)
at 70 and 30 %, respectively. Animals were allocated into 3 equal groups (8 lambs each). The first
group (C, control) was injected with 1.0 ml/head/biweekly of sterile saline solution (0.9 % NaCl).
Animals in the second (ES-1) and third group (ES-2) injected with vitamin E plus Se at rate 0.5
ml/head/biweekly (containing 3.57 IU vitamin E + 0.03 mg Se/head/day) and 1.0 ml/head/biweekly
(containing 7.14 IU vitamin E + 0.06 mg Se/head/day), respectively. The nutrient digestibility of
DM, OM, EE and NFE increased (P<0.05) for lambs of ES-1 and ES-2 than untreated (control).
Averages of final body weight increased (P<0.05) by 17.26 and 13.44 % for lambs of ES-2 vs.
control or ES-1, respectively. Averages of daily gain (DG) were higher (P<0.05) for lambs of ES-1
and ES-2 than control. The values were 166.56, 191.89 and 237.89 g/d for lambs of control, ES-1
and ES-2, respectively. There were significant dose-related improvement (P<0.05) in feed intakes
(DCPI and TDNI) and feed conversion (FCR, DCPI and TDNI) for lambs received ES-1 and ES-2
compared to control. Lambs of ES-2 had higher (P<0.05) concentrations of serum total protein and
globulin vs. control or SE-1. There was a decrease (P<0.05) in serum cholesterol levels for lambs
of SE-1 and SE-2 vs. control. Data indicated that serum concentrations of triiodothyronine (T3), but
not thyroxin (T4), T3/T4 ratio and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity, were higher (P<0.05)
for lambs of SE-1 and SE-2 than control. The increase in T3 hormone level and GSH-Px activity
for lambs of SE-1 and SE-2 had dose-dependent manner.
It conclude that vitamin E plus Se, at doses 0.5 and 1 ml/ head/biweekly in growing lambs,
showed useful impacts on improving nutrient digestibility, growth performance, feed conversion
rate and some related serum biochemical indicators. The improvements had dose-related manner
with vitamin E plus Se injections with superiority to the higher dose.