SUMMARY
This study was carried out to investigate the impact of selenium source (i.e organic and inorganic) given at 8 mg/head/day on the antioxidant capacity of camel calves and their growth performance. Seventeen camels (nine male and eight female) at 18 months of age with 172.47±10.56 kg average body weight were randomly divided into three groups: group 1 (organic selenium, n=6), group 2 (inorganic selenium, n=6) plus vitamin E (15 IU/kg DM) and a control group (control, n=5). The three groups were housed in three semi-opened and shaded pens and fed the experimental diets for 115 days.
A significant increase (P<0.05) in blood plasma metabolites including glucose, total protein, albumin, and total lipids was observed. Also, the plasma concentration of triiodothyronine was higher (P<0.05) in both Selenium supplemented groups while the concentration of alkaline phosphatase was higher (P<0.05) only in the organic Selenium group. The values for alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, blood ureanitrogen, and creatinine were similar in the experimental groups and remained within the normal range. A significant improvement of antioxidantstatus was clearly reflected by the significant increase (P<0.05) in glutathioneperoxidase, catalase, total antioxidant capacity, and a decrease in malondialdehyde for supplemented groups vs control group. The concentrations of plasma selenium, calcium and potassium were higher (P<0.05) in treated groups. Sodium concentration was similar (P>0.05) in the experimental groups.
Average daily gain (g/d) was higher (P<0.05) in the Selenium supplemented groups with a clear difference between the organic selenium group compared with the others.
It has been concluded that the supplementation of selenium to growing camel diets by (8 mg/head/d) improved growth performance and reduced oxidative stress without any adverse effect on animals. In addition, organic source showed a better effect than the inorganic source.