EVALUATION OF MAGNESIUM OXIDE INTESTINAL ABSOPTION IN LAYING HENS

  • ANETA POP Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Bucharest, Splaiul Independentei 105, sector 5, Bucharest
  • ELISABETA BIANU Institute for Animal Diagnosis and Health, Bucharest, Staicovici 59, sector 5
  • M. GHITA Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Bucharest, Splaiul Independentei 105, sector 5, Bucharest
  • N. CONSTANTIN Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Bucharest, Splaiul Independentei 105, sector 5, Bucharest
Keywords: magnesium oxide, absorption, serum, liver, muscle, bones

Abstract

In poultry, magnesium is involved in many important physiological processes, from bone metabolism, modulation of a great number of enzyme activity to egg shell formation and resistance. The aim of the present research was to evaluate whether feed introduced MgO is intestinally absorbed and its level in different tissues. The experiment was performed over a period of 41 days, on 35 weeks old laying hens, RossoSL hybrid. The combined standard feed was supplemented with MgO in two different doses, 1g/kg feed and 3g/kg feed. At the end of the experiment, the animals from the control group that received only standard feed and the two groups of MgO supplemented ones were slaughtered. Samples of serum, liver, pectoral and thigh muscles and also thigh bone were collected. The evaluation of Mg content, assayed by atomic absorption spectroscopy, revealed that both experimental groups presented changes in magnesium levels. In sera, livers and thigh muscles, Mg content increased with the dose of supplemented MgO. In the pectoral muscle, the increase in Mg was higher in the lower supplemented groups (1g MgO/kg feed), about 11% over the control, while in the group that received 3g MgO/kg feed the Mg content was only with 4.1% over. A different behaviour against MgO supplementation was reached for thigh bone, where the Mg content deceased with 2% in the first group, and with 10.3% in the group that received the highest MgO supplementation. The obtained results demonstrate that MgO is absorbed at the intestinal level, even in an inorganic form, and more, induces changes in the magnesium level of the different organs and consequently may influence their metabolism

Author Biographies

ANETA POP, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Bucharest, Splaiul Independentei 105, sector 5, Bucharest
BIOTECHNOLOGIES
ELISABETA BIANU, Institute for Animal Diagnosis and Health, Bucharest, Staicovici 59, sector 5
BIOTECHNOLOGIES
M. GHITA, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Bucharest, Splaiul Independentei 105, sector 5, Bucharest
BIOTECHNOLOGIES
N. CONSTANTIN, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Bucharest, Splaiul Independentei 105, sector 5, Bucharest
BIOTECHNOLOGIES
Published
2009-09-29