Safety evaluation of phytosterols in laying hens: Effects on laying performance, clinical blood parameters, and organ development

• Published in: Poultry science Vol. 93; no. 3; pp. 545 - 549
• Main Authors: Shi, S. R., Shen, Y. R., Chang, L. L., Zhou, C. J., Bo, Z., Wang, Z. Y., Tong, H. B., Zou, J. M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Poultry Science Association, Inc 01-03-2014
• Subjects: Animal Feed - analysis; Animals; Anticholesteremic Agents - adverse effects; Blood Chemical Analysis - veterinary; Chickens - growth & development; Chickens - physiology; Diet - veterinary; Dietary Supplements - analysis; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Female; Hematologic Tests - veterinary; Organ Size - drug effects; Phytosterols - adverse effects; Random Allocation; Reproduction - drug effects; laying hen; safety evaluation; organ development; clinical blood parameter; phytosterol
• ISSN: 0032-5791; 1525-3171
• DOI: 10.3382/ps.2013-03562

Phytosterols are intended for use as a novel food ingredient with plasma cholesterol-lowering activity. Although phytosterols are naturally present in the normal diet, daily consumption is insufficient to ensure plasma cholesterol-lowering levels. Therefore, phytosterols may be added to the diets to achieve the desired cholesterol-lowering activity. A subchronic laying hen safety study was conducted to examine if high-dose phytosterols could affect the safety of hens. Three hundred sixty 21-wk-old Hy-Line Brown laying hens were randomly assigned to 5 groups with 6 replicates of 12 birds each; after 3 wk, birds were fed diets supplemented with 0, 20, 80, 400, and 800 mg/kg of phytosterols for 12 wk. Throughout the study, clinical observations and laying performance were measured. At the end of the study, birds were subjected to a full postmortem examination: blood samples were taken for clinical pathology, selected organs were weighed, and specified tissues were taken for subsequent histological examination. No treatment-related changes that were considered to be of toxicological significance were observed. Therefore, a nominal phytosterol concentration of 800 mg/kg was considered to be the no-observed-adverse-effect level.