Dietary levels and sources of selenium for post weaning piglets

ABSTRACT: An experiment was conducted to study the effects of two sources and dietary levels of selenium (Se) on performance, Se concentration and glutathione peroxidase activity in plasma and liver of piglets post weaning. A total of 126 weaned pigs male and female Large White × Landrace, at average body weight of 7.2±0.67kg were allotted to seven treatments in a randomized block design, with two Se sources (organic and inorganic), inclusion levels, two levels for the inorganic source (0.30 and 0.60ppm) and four for the organic source (0.15, 0.30, 0.45 and 0.60ppm) and one control diet without Se supplementation containing 0.095ppm, and six replicates of three animals per pen. The experimental period was 35 days post-weaning. The organic source contained 0.2067% (Se-yeast), and the inorganic 45.86% (sodium selenite) analyzed. Piglets that received supplemental Se had lower feed intake compared to those not supplemented. Furthermore, feed conversion was better with dietary supplementation of Se, and the organic source was better than the inorganic source at level of 0.30ppm. Plasma concentration of Se was higher (35.53%) in animals receiving dietary supplementation of this mineral, regardless of the sources studied. There was no effect of sources on plasma and hepatic Se, with the lowest values observed for the non-supplementation and organic Se at dietary level of 0.15ppm. There was a linear reduction of plasma GSH-Px activity with increased supplementation levels of organic Se, and the hepatic GSH-Px activity increased linearly with the increased supplementation, regardless of the source studied.