Antioxidant systems of the avian embryo: Tissue-specific accumulation and distribution of vitamin E in the turkey embryo during development

Abstract

Tissue-specific accumulation of tocopherols and tocotrienols in turkey tissues during embryonic development and their susceptibility to lipid peroxidation were investigated. Fertile turkey eggs were incubated using standard commercial conditions. Embryonic tissues were collected at 16, 22, 25 d of incubation and from day-old poults (referred to as day 29) and alpha-; beta- + gamma- and delta-tocopherols and respective tocotrienols were analysed by HPLC. A turkey diet provided to the parent hens contained the complete range of tocopherols and tocotrienols. Between days 16 and 22 of embryo development, the alpha-tocopherol concentration in the liver remained constant and then increased significantly (P<0.01) reaching a maximum just after hatching. Similar changes were observed for the other tocopherols and tocotrienols. The accumulation of alpha-tocopherol in the yolk sac membrane (YSM) started after day 20 of development and at hatching the alpha-tocopherol concentration in the YSM was twice that of beta- + gamma-tocopherols and 15 times greater than that of alpha-tocotrienol. In the kidney, heart, lung, muscle and adipose tissues a gradual increase in tocopherol and tocotrienol concentrations took place between days 20 and 25 of development with a sharp increase in particular of alpha-tocopherol between days 25 and 29. There was a discrimination between tocopherols and tocotrienols during their assimilation from the diet by the parent hen and during metabolism by the developing turkey embryo. Tissue-specific features in the susceptibility to lipid peroxidation were found with the brain being the most susceptible to lipid peroxidation at day 25 and in day-old poults.

Nutrition and metabolism in poultry: role of lipids in early diet

“…Antioxidants in the animal body work together as the so called “antioxidant system” to prevent damaging effects of free radicals and toxic products of their metabolism. The chick’s antioxidant system includes enzymes (e.g., superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, and catalase) and molecules (e.g., glutathione, vitamin A and E, and carotenoids) [ 30 , 31 ]. Antioxidants are needed to protect chicks from oxidative damage.…”

Effects of maternal dietary vitamin E on the egg characteristics, hatchability and offspring quality of prolonged storage eggs of broiler breeder hens

“…During the last few days of embryonic development, VE in the embryonic tissues, apart from brain, increased rapidly (Gaál et al, 1995;Noble et al, 1993;Surai et al, 1996;Surai, Sparks, & Noble, 1999b), and increasing maternal VE supplementation could increase VE concentration in the tissues of newly hatched chicks (Surai, 2000;Surai, Noble, et al, 1999;Tsai et al, 2008), a fact that could be related to the increased tissue T-AOC of newly hatched chicks in the present study, which was in agreement with previous findings (Ren, Wang, et al, 2016). Compared with the other major tissues of newly hatched chick, brain was more susceptible to lipid peroxidation (Surai, Noble, et al, 1999), due to its higher levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (Maldjian, Cristofori, Noble, & Speake, 1996) and lower concentration of antioxidant components (Gaál et al, 1995;Surai et al, 1996).…”

Superoxide Scavenging Activities of Sixty Chinese Medicines Determined by an ESR Spin-Trapping Method Using Electrogenerated Superoxide.

“…These results showed that there might be a relation between the superoxide scavenging activity of Chinese medicine and its function. As reported in recent literature, the assimilation and metabolism of natural substances such as food, 16) vitamin E, 17) quercetin 18) and ‰avo-noids, 19,20) play a key role in the actual physiological events. Therefore, in order to conˆrm the relationship between the superoxide scavenging activity of Chinese medicine and its function, it is necessary to investigate the assimilation and metabolism of the components of Chinese medicines, and this is a subject of future research.…”