QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Combs, G. F. Articles by Su, Q. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Combs, G. F., Jr. Articles by Su, Q.

Uncomplicated Selenium Deficiency Produced in Chicks Fed a Corn-Soy-Based Diet

G. F. Combs, Jr.^*, C. H. Liu, Z. H. Lu and Q. Su

^* Department of Poultry and Avian Sciences, and Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 Institute of Animal Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China (PRC)

Day-old chicks were fed a practical-type diet based on corn- and soybean meal produced in a severely Se-deficient area of northeastern China. The diet contained 0.007 ppm Se and resulted in marked decreases in the activities of Sedependent glutathione peroxidase in plasma and pancreas within 6 days of feeding. Chicks fed this basal diet showed histological signs of acinar atrophy of the pancreas, hyaline body formation, vacuolation and cytoplasmic shrinkage by 18 days and significantly elevated activities of amylase in plasma by 30 days. Each of these changes was prevented by supplementing the basal diet with Se to bring it to a level of 0.20 ppm. Chicks fed a Se-deficient purified diet based on crystalline amino acids also showed decreased Se-dependent glutathione peroxidase activities in plasma and pancreas, pancreatic damage as evidenced by histological examination and increases in plasma amylase activities. However, these signs of nutritionally induced pancreatic atrophy occurred sooner and were of greater magnitude than those observed in Se-deficient chicks fed the practical diet within the 30-day experimental period. These results, therefore, constitute the first report of nutritionally induced pancreatic atrophy in Se-deficient chicks fed a diet containing intact protein, and we suggest that a factor(s) associated with the practical diet acts to partially protect the chicks from this pathological consequence of severe Se deficiency.

KEY WORDS: • selenium • pancreas • glutathione peroxidase • chicks

Manuscript received 16 November 1983.