School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences - Theses

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Amelioration of the effects of heat stress with antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase and catalase in broiler chickens

Artaiz, Olivia ( 2022)

Heat stress has become a growing concern in the livestock industry. Elevated temperatures, coupled with rising global animal production is severely impacting animal health, welfare and overall production capacity. Heat stress is associated with a myriad of physiological, metabolic and gastrointestinal changes and has been shown to induce oxidative stress, a condition in which harmful free radicals are produced in excess. Oxidative stress is particularly damaging to macromolecules and causes widespread cell and tissue damage. Emerging research suggests supplementation with antioxidants, such as Vitamin C and Vitamin E, can partially ameliorate the damaging effects of heat stress. Despite considerable research on antioxidant supplementation in livestock, there has been little investigation into the therapeutic effects of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT). Therefore, the aims were to determine the effect of both antioxidants and antioxidant enzymes on growth parameters, meat quality, gastrointestinal health and markers of oxidative stress in heat stressed broiler chickens.