Absorption and deposition of xanthophylls in broilers challenged with three dosages of Eimeria acervulina oocysts

Abstract1. An experiment was designed to evaluate the effect of different doses of oocysts of Eimeria acervulina on intestinal absorption and skin deposition of xanthophylls (XAs) in broilers.2. A total of 192 broiler chickens were randomly assigned to 4 groups: an uninfected control group and three groups inoculated with either 1 × 102, 1 × 104 or 1 × 105 sporulated oocysts of E. acervulina by gavaging at 21 d. There were 4 replicate pens (2 male and 2 female) per group.3. Plasma xanthophyll (PX) and skin yellowness (SY) were measured in live birds weekly. At 42 d of age, SY was measured in the breast and abdomen after chilling and in the breast 24 h post-processing on refrigerated carcasses.4. In general, in all challenged treatments, and for the duration of the study, the average PX decreased by 0.02 μg/ml (R2 = 61.6%) for every 1000 inoculated oocysts, whereas PX increased by 1.26 μg/ml/d in uninfected birds.5. The average SY in live birds from 21 to 42 d of age decreased by 0.019 b*/every 1000 oocyst...