Effects of organic selenium supplementation on growth performance, carcass measurements, tissue selenium concentrations, characteristics of reproductive organs, and testis gene expression profiles in boars1

Abstract

The objective was to compare growth and physiological responses in boars fed diets supplemented with organic or inorganic sources of Se. At weaning, crossbred boars (n = 117; 8.3 kg of BW) were placed in nursery pens (3 boars/pen) and assigned within BW blocks to receive on an ad libitum basis 1 of 3 dietary treatments: I) basal diets with no supplemental Se (controls), II) basal diets supplemented with 0.3 mg/kg of organic Se, and, III) basal diets supplemented with 0.3 mg/kg of sodium selenite (13 pens/dietary treatment). Average daily gain (470 g/d), ADFI (896 g/d), and G:F (0.54) were similar among groups. Blood Se concentrations were greater (P < 0.01) for boars consuming organic Se (107.5 ± 4.8 µg/L) or sodium selenite (114.7 ± 4.8 µg/L) compared with controls (28.4 ± 4.8 µg/L). Intact pens of boars (11 pens/dietary treatment) were moved to a grow-finish barn and continued to receive appropriate diets on an ad libitum basis. Average daily gain (1,045 g/d) and ADFI (2,716 g/d) were similar among groups. Gain:feed was affected by treatment (P = 0.02) and was greater (P < 0.06) for boars fed organic Se (0.378 ± 0.004) compared with boars fed sodium selenite (0.368 ± 0.004) or controls (0.363 ± 0.004). Blood Se concentrations were greater (P < 0.01) in grow-finish boars consuming organic Se (198.9 ± 5.5 µg/L) than boars consuming sodium selenite (171.4 ± 5.4 µg/L) or controls (26.7 ± 5.4 µg/L). Treatment did not affect (P > 0.15) HCW, dressing percent, carcass length, LM area, standardized fat-free lean, lean percentage, backfat thickness, visual color, firmness, marbling, or Minolta loin color scores. Selenium supplementation did not affect (P > 0.17) testis or accessory sex gland sizes. Concentrations of Se in loin, liver, kidney, testis, cauda epididymis, and accessory sex glands were greatest (P < 0.01) in boars receiving organic Se, intermediate in boars receiving sodum selenite, and least in control boars. Microarray analysis of testis gene expression did not detect differences (P > 0.05) due to dietary treatment. Testis gene expression of glutathione peroxidase 4, as determined using quantitative PCR, was increased (P < 0.01) in boars fed organic Se compared with those fed sodium selenite. In summary, dietary supplementation of boars with organic Se failed to alter ADG or ADFI but enhanced G:F during grow-finish. More research is needed to discern the mechanism by which organic Se improves feed efficiency in boars.

Evaluation of the efficacy of 2-hydroxy-4-methylselenobutanoic acid on growth performance and tissue selenium retention in growing pigs1

“…Selenium concentrations in plasma and tissues were influenced by both Se sources and levels. These results agreed with previous research with pigs (Mahan and Parrett, 1996;Mateo et al, 2007;Speight et al, 2012) and even on other species such as poultry (Juniper et al, 2011;Briens et al, 2013), cattle (Juniper et al, 2008), lamb (Qin et al, 2007), and sheep (Davis et al, 2008). The Se concentrations in plasma and liver were effectively increased when pigs were fed diets supplemented with Se, regardless of the source, in comparison with pigs receiving the unsupplemented control diet.…”

“…In pigs, as well as in other domestic animal species, Se metabolism depends closely of Se forms and sources. Generally, organic Se has greater bioavailability and rates of tissue retention than inorganic Se (Vendeland et al, 1994;Mahan et al, 1999;Juniper et al, 2008Juniper et al, , 2011Liao et al, 2012;Speight et al, 2012). Many studies have established that selenomethionine and selenized yeast (SY) are the most appropriate source of Se for use in animal nutritional supplements because of their greater bioavailability and lower toxicity (Tinggi, 2003;Utterback et al, 2005;Wang and Xu, 2008;Skrivan et al, 2012).…”

Meat composition and quality of young growing Belgian Blue bulls offered a fattening diet with selenium enriched cereals

“…Similarly, in veal, neither Se nor Se and vitamin E supplementation significantly influenced the gain and feed intake ). Dietary Se supplementation did not significantly influence growth performance in other animals species such as rabbits (Dokoupilova´et al 2007), broilers (Ahmad et al 2012;Cai et al 2012), or boars (Speight et al 2012).…”

Selenium in Pig Nutrition and Reproduction: Boars and Semen Quality — A Review

“…straightforward movement) and resistance to oxidative stress. In another experiment crossbred boars were weaned at 28 d of age and randomly assigned to 1 of 3 dietary treatments: i) basal diets (BD) containing 0.034 mg/kg Se, BD+0.3 ppm Se as SS or BD+0.3 ppm Se as Se-Yeast and used in 3 experiments (n = 10 boars/dietary treatment) ( Speight et al, 2012a ). It was shown that Se-Yeast and SS did not affect semen quality (fresh or extended) and its fertilizing ability, while SS decreased percentage of sperm with abnormal head in comparison to BD.…”