Humoral Immune Response Impairment Following Excess Vitamin e Nutrition in the Chick and Turkey

Aharon Friedman*, Ido Bartov, David Sklan

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

61 Scopus citations

Abstract

The effect of high dietary intakes of vitamin E on antibody production was investigated in chicks and turkeys. Chicks were fed four diets with 0, 10, 30, and 150 mg/kg added vitamin E and turkeys were fed three diets with 0, 50, and 150 mg/kg added vitamin E. Antibodies produced in response to naturally occurring Escherichia coli and to Newcastle disease virus and turkey pox vaccines were determined. In chicks, antibody production in response to E. coli and Newcastle disease was affected by vitamin E nutrition: significantly higher responses were measured in chicks that received 0 and 10 mg/kg added vitamin E, whereas in chicks receiving 30 and 150 mg/kg, antibody production was significantly lower. In turkeys, concentrations of circulating antibodies to Newcastle disease virus and to turkey pox were also influenced by dietary vitamin E: antibody titers to Newcastle disease and turkey pox vaccines were highest in groups receiving 0 mg/kg added vitamin E, whereas titer in groups receiving 150 mg/kg were significantly lower. Responses of groups receiving 50 mg/kg added vitamin E were slightly lower than groups receiving 0 mg/kg, though not significantly so in most cases. These results indicate that humoral immune responses are directly effected by vitamin E, and that excessive vitamin E intake has a detrimental effect on antibody production in chickens and turkeys.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)956-962
Number of pages7
JournalPoultry Science
Volume77
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 1998

Keywords

  • Antibody
  • Chick
  • Immune response
  • Turkey
  • Vitamin E

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