The experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of feeding a diet supplemented with different forms of selenium on the rumen fluid, blood and serum enzyme activity and osmotic fragility of red blood cells in sheep. The experiment was carried out on 18 sheep of the Valashka breed at the age of 18 months, divided into 3 groups. The first group was given basal diet (BD) with a Se content of 0.17 mg/kg of dry matter (DM). The second group received BD supplemented with 0.4 mg Se/kg of (DM) in the form of sodium selenite. The third group received BD supplemented with 0.4 mg Se/kg of (DM) in the form of Se-yeast extract. Duration of the trial was 12 weeks. Selenium concentration in blood and total rumen fluid were elevated in both supplemented groups with the highest values in Se-yeast-treated sheep. Blood glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity was significantly increased, regardless of the source of selenium. Osmotic resistance of red blood cells was not affected by selenium supplementation. The results indicate that feeding a diet supplemented with selenium from Se-yeast or selenite improved selenium status in blood and total rumen fluid. Selenium from sodium selenite was as effective as selenium from Se-yeast in the availability of selenium for the blood GPx activity. The effect of selenium supplementation on the ruminal enzyme activity depends on the selenium form; GGT and GDH were significantly higher in the Se-yeast supplement group, AST and ALP were significantly higher in the selenite supplement group.
Rumen, blood enzymes, ruminantSelenium is an essential trace element which plays an important role in the antioxidative, reproductive, endocrine and immune systems of species.In most European Union countries the natural Se content in feed is only 0.03-0.12 mg/kg of dry matter (Pappas et al. 2008). The intake of such feeds can result in serious Se deficiencies and health problems especially in young growing and highly producing animals.For this reason commercial animal feeds are routinely supplemented with various Se sources up to the maximum European Union authorized total Se content of 0.5 mg/kg of feed.Currently, sodium selenite (Na 2 SeO 3 ) and sodium selenate (Na 2 SeO 4 ) as inorganic and selenium-enriched yeast (Se-yeast) as organic Se are principal selenium supplements of animal feed.It is established that selenocompounds from dietary inorganic and organic Se sources follow different metabolic pathways (Qin et al. 2007;Wang et al. 2009). Intestinal absorption of Se is much lower in ruminants than in nonruminants. For selenite, the absorption is 79% and 80% in poultry and swine, respectively, whereas only 29% in sheep. For selenomethionine and selenate the absorption is higher than 90% in monogastrics and poultry. Low absorption of selenium in ruminants is believed to result from reduction of dietary selenium (selenite and selenate) to unsoluble forms such as elemental selenium or selenides in the rumen environment (Mehdi et al. 2013).