Effects of dietary selenium yeast supplementation on the production performance, egg quality, antioxidant and plasma biochemical parameters of laying hens
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In this study, the effects of dietary selenium yeast (SY) supplementation on the production performance, egg quality, antioxidant and plasma biochemical parameters of laying hens were investigated. A total of 108 healthy Hy-Line Brown laying hens (162 days old, weighing 1.61 ± 0.05 kg) were randomly assigned to four treatment groups, each consisting of three replicates with nine hens per treatment. After a 10-day adaptation period, a 60-day trial was conducted. Dietary SY supplementation did not influence growth performance (P > 0.05) but improved egg quality, as evidenced by increased eggshell thickness, egg weight, albumen height, and Haugh units (linear effects, P < 0.05). SY increased the selenium content in eggs and plasma in a dose-dependent manner (linear trends, P < 0.05). Hepatic antioxidant enzyme activities (total antioxidant capacity, T-AOC; superoxide dismutase, SOD; glutathione peroxidase, GSH-Px) were significantly increased by SY (P < 0.05), with both linear and quadratic trends observed for T-AOC and SOD (P < 0.05). Conversely, the malondialdehyde (MDA) content in the yolk decreased linearly and quadratically (P < 0.05). Although the plasma immunoglobulin A (IgA) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) levels remained unaffected (P > 0.05), the IgG level increased quadratically (P < 0.05) with increasing SY dose. SY supplementation also modulated immune marker levels: immunoglobulin M (IgM), tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels were significantly altered (P < 0.05), and the levels of IL-6 tended to increase linearly (P < 0.05). In conclusion, dietary SY improved egg quality, increased hepatic antioxidant capacity, and regulated immune marker levels in laying hens, with the 0.9 mg/kg SY dose demonstrating optimal efficacy. These findings support the potential of SY as a nutritional strategy to increase hen health and egg quality.
