Abstract
This study was of the effects of dietary selenium levels on the concentration of selenium in red blood cells and plasm of laying hens. Glutathione peroxidase activity was also measured.
Ten laying hens 215 days old were used. For three weeks, they were placed on a diet containing 0.24mg of selenium per kilogram of feed, and for the next three weeks, on a diet containing 0.06mg of selenium. This was repeated for a total test period of fifteen weeks. At the end of each three-week period, blood samples were taken, and the red blood cells and plasma separated. The selenium concentration and enzyme activity were then assayed.
The selenium level of both red blood cells and plasma significantly decreased (p<0.01) with the low-selenium diet; however, the selenium level in the red blood cells was still higher than in the plasma. The enzyme activity of plasma decreased significantly with decreases in dietary selenium, but the enzyme activity of red blood cells did not.
When the dietary selenium level was decreased from 0.24 to 0.06mg per kilogram of feed, the selenium level of the red blood cells compared to that of the plasma changed from 1:0.5 to 1:0.3, and the ratio of enzyme activity of the red blood cells to the plasma changed from 1:6.4 to 1:4.0. Those results suggested that selenium is easily incorporated into red blood cells and more stable there than in plasma.
