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Modification of a Selenium Toxicity in Chicks by Dietary Silver and Copper

Department of Poultry Science, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602

Studies were conducted to determine the effects of high levels of dietary silver nitrate and copper sulfate on the response of chicks to toxic levels of dietary selenium. Adding 5 ppm or more selenium to a basal stock diet significantly reduced growth rate, and 40 ppm or higher significantly increased mortality during the 2-week experiments. Dietary silver or copper (1,000 ppm) counteracted the growth depression and prevented mortality at the higher levels of selenium. Hepatic selenium reached a maximum in chicks fed the basal diet with 10 ppm dietary selenium. Hepatic selenium of chicks fed silver was less than that of the control chicks when diets containing 10 ppm or less selenium were fed. Adding copper to the diet resulted in considerable accumulation of selenium in the liver, which was evident even at the lower levels of added selenium. Results of an experiment to determine the effects of dietary silver and copper on the distribution of ⁷⁵Se administered either orally or intramuscularly showed that silver interfered with absorption of selenium. The results of these experiments suggest that silver modifies selenium toxicity both by interfering with selenium absorption and by causing the accumulation of a nondeleterious selenium compound in the tissues. Copper modifies selenium toxicity primarily by causing the accumulation of a nondeleterious compound in the tissues.

KEY WORDS: • selenium toxicity • chicks • silver • copper • hepatic selenium • selenium interactions

Manuscript received 18 November 1974.