The Investigation on Interaction between Two Hepatic Enzymes and some Minerals in Broiler Chickens

The objectives of this study were to determine the interactions between two hepatic enzymes and some minerals in the liver of broiler chickens. The study was performed with male and female from 1 to 56 days of age of broiler chickens. Malic acid was added to the water and offered to chickens freely from the start to the end of the experiment with constant concentration. The treatments consisted on zero (as a control), 0.05, 0.10 and 0.15% of malic acid which dissolved in water and given to them in waterer pan. The chicks were slaughter on 56 days old and liver enzymes including malate dehydrogenase (MDH) and isocitrate dehy-drogenase (IDH) were measured on liver extract along with some mineral in dried liver. No significant dif-ference (P > 0.05) was observed between treatments for weight gain. Liver MDH activity did not show any significant difference, but IDH activity was increased (P < 0.05) by malic acid consumption. Male chicks showed a 28% higher IDH-NADP activity in their liver compared to female chicks (P < 0.05). Zinc and iron showed significant correlation with MDH and IDH, respectively. No significant negative correlation (P > 0.05) was observed among mineral concentration in the chick liver and selenium concentration in the liver. However, it was found a significant positive correlation with concentration of lead, magnesium, nick-el, manganese, mercury and cobalt in the chicken liver (P < 0.05). In conclusion, malic acid administration to the water of chickens resulted in a linear accumulation of iron into the liver of them, but there was not found other mineral accumulation in this organ.