Liver and Kidney Health Biomarkers of Broiler Chickens Fed Vitamins A, C and E

Abstract

The effects of vitamins A, C and E based-diets were investigated on the biomarkers of liver [alanine amino transferase (ALT), aspartic amino transferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP)] and kidney biomarkers [blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine] to determine liver and kidney health status of broiler chickens. Ninety day-old chicks were used in the investigation. The chicks on arrival at the venue of the study were brooded and similarly reared for 4 weeks to fully adjust them to their new environment. At the end of the adjustment period, the animals were randomly assigned to 3 dietary treatments with 30 birds/treatment and 3 replicates of 10 birds/replicate as: T₀ (control diet, contained the vitamins at basal levels of 30mg/kg of diet), T₁ (diet 2, contained vitamins A and E at 100mg of vitamin A + 100mg of vitamin E/kg of diet) and T₂ (diet 3, contained vitamins C and E at 100mg of vitamin C + 100mg of vitamin E/kg of diet). The animals ingested their dietary treatments for 4 weeks. At the end of trial, 9 birds from each treatment group composed of 3 birds from each replicate were bled and their blood collected into treated ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) tubes and immediately snap frozen for liver and kidney biomarkers analyses. ALT serum levels of T₀ and T₁ animal treatment groups were significantly (P < 0.05) higher compared with those of T₂ animals. ALP levels of T₁ and T₂ treatment groups were similar (P > 0.05) but significantly (P < 0.05) lower compared with the T₀ group. There were no differences (P > 0.05) in the levels of AST, BUN and creatinine amongst all the treatment groups. It was concluded that the vitamins-based diets had effect on ALT and ALP but had no effects on AST, BUN and creatinine.