title: Safety evaluation of phytosterols in laying hens: effects on laying performance, clinical blood parameters, and organ development.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Poultry Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, 225125, China.
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Y R
authors.initials: YR
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Bo
authors.forename: Z Y
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: H B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Zou
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed / Q000032:analysis; D000818:Animals; D000924:Anticholesteremic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001774:Blood Chemical Analysis / Q000662:veterinary; D002645:Chickens / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D004032:Diet / Q000662:veterinary; D019587:Dietary Supplements / Q000032:analysis; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D006403:Hematologic Tests / Q000662:veterinary; D009929:Organ Size / Q000187:drug effects*; D010840:Phytosterols / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011897:Random Allocation; D012098:Reproduction / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D000924:Anticholesteremic Agents; D010840:Phytosterols
keywords: clinical blood parameter; laying hen; organ development; phytosterol; safety evaluation