Effects of dietary vitamin E type on the growth performance and antioxidant capacity in cyclophosphamide immunosuppressed broilers.

Abstract Reactive oxygen species and free radicals play multiple roles in some immune-pathological events. Vitamin E, as a very potent antioxidant, perhaps deceases the potentially negative effects of such oxidative stress to prevent immune-pathological damage to broilers. Therefore, the current study investigated the effects of dietary natural (D-α-tocopherol) and synthetic (DL-α-tocopherol acetate) vitamin E on the growth performance and antioxidant capacity in cyclophosphamide (CY) immunosuppressed broilers. 192 one-day-old male Arbor Acre broilers were randomly distributed into 4 groups: 1) non-CY-challenged control; 2) CY-challenged control; 3) CY-challenged group+20 IU DL-α-tocopherol acetate per kg feed; and 4) CY-challenged group+20 IU D-α-tocopherol per kg feed. The maize-soybean basal diet in the control group contained α-tocopherol (7.12 mg/kg). Broilers were intramuscularly injected with 80 mg/kg body weight of CY or sterile saline at 16, 17, and 18 d of age. CY decreased (P   0.05). The decreased absolute weight of the spleen, thymus and bursa, serum interleukin 2 (IL-2), and interleukin 6 (IL-2) concentrations in CY-treated broilers were alleviated by vitamin E (P