Effects of hydroxychloride and sulfate form of zinc and manganese supplementation on superoxide dismutase activity and immune responses post lipopolysaccharide challenge in poultry fed marginally lower doses of zinc and manganese.

Effects of hydroxychloride (OHCl) and sulfate form of zinc and manganese supplementation on immune responses of birds fed marginally lower levels of zinc and manganese during an experimental lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection were studied. In experiment I, 30-week-old layer birds were fed 50 mg/kg Zn+45 mg/kg Mn or 100 mg/kg Zn+90 mg/kg Mn in sulfate or OHCl form and injected with 0 or 500 μg/kg LPS in a 2 (50 mg Zn+45 mg Mn and 100 mg Zn+90 mg Mn) X 2 (sulfate and OHCl) X 2 (0 and 500 μg LPS) factorial setup of treatments for 10 weeks. Among LPS-injected birds, those receiving 50 mg ZnOHCl+45 mg MnOHCl had comparable heterophil and monocyte superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity compared to the birds fed 100 mg Zn+90 mg Mn. Compared to the birds injected with PBS, LPS injection upregulated cathelicidin and IL-1 relative mRNA amounts in monocytes from birds fed 100 mg Zn+90 mg Mn, both in sulfate and OHCl form, and in birds fed 50 mg ZnOHCl+45 mg MnOHCl, but not in the birds fed 50 mg ZnSO4+45 mg MnSO4. In experiment II, one-day-old broiler birds were fed 50 mg ZnOHCl+45 mg MnOHCl, 50 mg ZnOHCl+90 mg MnOHCl, 100 mg ZnOHCL+45 mg MnOHCl, 100 mg ZnOHCl+90 mg MnOHCl, 50 mg ZnSO4+45 mg MnSO4, or 100 mg ZnSO4+90 mg MnSO4 for 21 and 42 days. Birds fed 100 mg ZnOHCl+45 mg MnOHCl form had a comparable heterophil and monocyte SOD activity and monocyte cathelicidin mRNA amounts compared to the group fed 100 mg Zn+90 mg Mn. Increasing the ZnOHCl content from 50 mg to 100 mg/kg Zn reversed (P > 0.05) the decrease in SOD activity and monocyte cathelicidin mRNA levels of the 50 mg ZnOHCl+45 mg MnOHCL fed group, and increasing the MnOHCl content from 45 mg to 90 mg/kg in the 100 mg ZnOHCl+45 mg MnOHCl group further increased SOD activity. In conclusion, birds fed diets with lower amounts of zinc and manganese in sulfate form decreased SOD activity and IL-1 and cathelicidin amounts during inflammation, and either increasing the dietary zinc and manganese content or feeding zinc and manganese in OHCl form synergistically increased the SOD activity and IL-1 and cathelicidin mRNA amounts in immune cells.