Interactive effects of vitamins A and K3 on laying performance, egg quality, tibia attributes and antioxidative status of aged Roman Pink laying hens

Extending laying cycle is a tendency in hen breeding, but egg quality declines as laying hens age. The present study was conducted to investigate the interactive effects of vitamins A and K₃ on laying performance, egg and tibia quality, and antioxidative status of aged Roman Pink laying hens. In a 3 × 3 factorial arrangement, 1 080 87-week-old laying hens were allocated to nine groups with eight replicates in each group. Deficient, adequate and excess vitamins A (0, 7 000 and 14 000 IU/kg) and K₃ (0, 2.0 and 4.0 mg/kg) were supplemented into a basal diet with 1 320 IU/kg of vitamin A and 0.5 mg/kg of vitamin K₃. After 2 weeks of adaption to basal diet, hens were fed corresponding diets for 8 weeks. Vitamins A and K₃ did not significantly affect the laying performance. However, they showed interactive effects on yolk ratio at week 93 as well as tibia weight and diameter (P < 0.05), and hens fed deficient vitamins A and K₃ had the highest yolk ratio and tibia weight, but the lowest tibia diameter. Compared with deficient addition, adequate or excess vitamins A and K₃ increased yolk color at weeks 93 and 97 (P < 0.05). Compared with hens fed deficient or excess vitamins, hens fed adequate vitamins A and K₃ had higher eggshell strength at week 93 or 97 (P < 0.05). Increasing vitamin A elevated plasma total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) activity and decreased hepatic glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity (P < 0.05). Excess vitamin K₃ increased hepatic T-SOD activity (P < 0.05). Vitamins A and K₃ exhibited interaction on the activities of antioxidative enzymes in eggshell gland (P < 0.05), and adequate or excess vitamins A and K₃ increased the activities of GSH-Px, T-SOD and catalase (CAT). Adequate and excess vitamin A up-regulated the mRNA expression of GSH-Px1, GSH-Px3 and SOD1 in eggshell gland (P < 0.05). Vitamins A and K₃ showed interactive effects on CAT mRNA expression in eggshell gland (P < 0.05) and hens fed adequate vitamins A and K₃ had the highest CAT mRNA levels. In conclusion, dietary addition of vitamins A and K₃ improved the eggshell quality and yolk color as well as antioxidative status in eggshell gland of aged laying hens. Adequate vitamins A and K₃ showed beneficial effects and excess levels did not exhibit superior effects.

Avian eggshell thinning caused by transovarian exposure to o,p'-DDT: changes in histology and calcium-binding protein production in the oviduct uterus

Reproductive disorders in birds are the most characteristic effects of DDT contamination of wildlife. Experimental exposure of avian eggs to the estrogenic substance o,p'-DDT causes abnormal development of the reproductive tract (shortening of the left oviduct and aberrant development of the right oviduct) and eggshell thinning in mature birds, but it is still not known how eggshell thinning occurs in the abnormal oviduct. To fill this information gap, we examined the histology of the uterine part of the oviduct in Japanese quail treated in ovo with o,p'-DDT or a synthetic estrogen, diethylstilbestrol (DES), and we performed immunohistochemical staining for the calcium-binding proteins CALB1, SPP1, and TRPV6. Both o,p'-DDT-treated and DES-treated quail had few, and scattered, gland cells in the left uterus, unlike vehicle controls, in which gland cells tightly occupied the lamina propria. The aberrantly developed right uterus retained all the components of the normal left uterus, but in immature form. Immunostaining for CALB1, SPP1, and TRPV6 was greatly reduced by both o,p'-DDT and DES; SPP1 and TRPV6 immunostaining patterns, in particular, differed distinctly from those in the controls. These findings suggest that CALB1, SPP1, and TRPV6 are molecular factors, decreased production of which is responsible for eggshell thinning. Our findings also could contribute to understanding of the eggshell formation mechanism in birds.