Neonatal immune response of chicks hatched from breeders fed diets supplemented with beta-carotene, canthaxanthin, lutein, or vitamin E

Forty single comb white leghorn (SCWL) hens and 8 (SCWL) cocks were randomly divided into 4 treatment groups. Each group was fed diets containing either 0.02% {dollar}beta{dollar}-carotene, canthaxanthin, lutein, or basal control. After 20 days of feeding, eggs were collected daily from each experimental group for incubation. Ten newly hatched chicks per treatment were sacrificed for blastogenesis assay and 24 chicks per treatment were vaccinated against Newcastle disease virus at day 1 and raised for 5 weeks on a basal diet. Carotenoid when fed to breeder birds depressed con-A stimulated splenic and thymic lymphocyte proliferation of newly-hatched chickens (in vitro). Except for the 3rd week of the experiment 2 where birds hatched from lutein fed breeders had significantly lower antibody titers as compared to breeders fed {dollar}beta{dollar}-carotene and canthaxanthin, there were no significant treatment differences. In the serum and liver of chicks hatched from breeders fed supplemented diets, respective carotenoid concentration decreased and retinol concentration increased with increasing age. Whereas, respective carotenoid and retinol concentration in the unabsorbed yolk sac increased over time.; In another similar study, broiler breeders were fed experimental diets consisting of control, 0.04% {dollar}beta{dollar}-carotene, 0.04% canthaxanthin, 0.04% lutein, 0.03% {dollar} alpha{dollar}-tocopherol acetate, or 0.04% {dollar}beta{dollar}-carotene plus 0.03% {dollar}alpha{dollar}-tocopherol for 3 weeks and then vaccinated against Newcastle disease virus. Eggs were collected daily commencing 8 weeks after the initiation of experimental feeding. There were no significant differences in weight gain and antibody titers of 3-week-old chicks. Vitamin E when fed to breeder birds increased humoral immunity (measured by antibody production against Newcastle disease virus) of their progeny. Vitamin E alone or in combination with {dollar}beta{dollar}-carotene when fed to breeders was effective to enhance B- and T-lymphocyte proliferation of newly-hatched chickens. Maternally-derived antibodies of non-vaccinated birds decrease with age.; In another in vitro study chick bursal lymphocytes were incubated in the presence of {dollar}beta{dollar}-carotene, canthaxanthin, or lutein and stimulated with phorbol 12, 13-dibutyrate. Carotenoids had no effect on bursal lymphocyte proliferation of newly hatched chickens.