INFLUENCE OF VITAMINS E AND C ON THE QUANTITY AND FUNCTIONAL ACTIVITY OF Τ- Ι Β-LYMPHOCYTES OF BLOOD-CHICKEN BROILERS

Abstract

Separate indices of T- and B-cell immunity of broiler chickens were investigated during the period of their growth with additional introduction of tocopherol acetate and ascorbic acid into their diet. The studies were conducted in one of the farms in the Lviv region on four groups of 100 broiler chickens each, ranging from 1- to 41 days of age. Chickens in the control group received a standard diet, the first experimental diet with the addition of tocopherol acetate, the second experimental - ascorbic acid, and the third - a complex of these vitamins. In whole blood, the relative number of T and B lymphocytes and their individual populations were determined in the reaction of spontaneous rosette formation with ram erythrocytes, differentiated calculation of rosette lymphocytes with different degree of functional activity was performed. For research, blood was collected from broiler chickens after slaughter at different ages: 27-, 34-, and 41-day-olds. During the work, the bioethical requirements of the animals were complied with according to the current legislation. Studies have shown that the additional introduction of chickens to their diet tocopherol acetate and ascorbic acid has a stimulating effect on the number of T and B lymphocytes and the functional activity of T and B cell units of immunity. This is evidenced by the higher number of (-lymphocytes (common, active, theophylline-resistant) and Β-lymphocytes in the blood of broiler chickens, which were supplemented with vitamins E and C. Τ- and Β-lymphocyte apparatus - an increase in the number of cells with low and medium degrees of aperture and a decrease in the inactive function of Τ- and Β-lymphocytes in the blood. These changes were more pronounced in the blood of chickens at 27 days of age due to the action of vitamin C, as well as the complex of tocopherol acetate and ascorbic acid. Therefore, on the basis of the conducted researches it is possible to confirm a regulatory role of vitamins E and C in formation of a cellular link of specific immune response of chickens-broilers. The action of the investigated vitamins, and especially of ascorbic acid, revealed an increase in the number and increase in the functional activity of T- and B-lymphocytes of the blood. These changes are probably due to the antioxidant action of vitamins in providing metabolic homeostasis of membranes and the receptor apparatus of immunocompetent cells

Keywords

• vitamins e and c
• broiler chickens
• specific immunity
• t and b lymphocytes
• functional activity of immunocompetent cells