Vitamin E, selenium and polyunsaturated fatty acids in clinically normal grower (9–16 week old) pigs and their feed: their relationship to the vitamin E/selenium deficiency (“VESD”) syndrome

Abstract

Vitamin E, selenium and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) were determined in feed used at three piggeries over a four-week period and compared with corresponding concentrations in clinically normal grower pigs at slaughter. Mean values were vitamin E: 59 IU/kg (feed), 6 μmol/kg (liver), 1.7 μmol/1 (serum); and selenium: 310 μg/kg (feed), 5200 nmol/kg (liver), 1700 nmol/1 (blood). Alpha-tocopherol accounted for 80% of the mean vitamin E activity in the feed and over 95% that in the liver and serum. The mean ratio of PUFA to total fatty acid (FA) in the feed (38%) was similar to that in the serum (36%) and liver (39%), but the ratio of peroxidisable PUFA (PPUFA) to FA increased from 1.7% in the feed to 4.2% in the serum and 10.8% in the liver. The ratio of α-tocopherol (mmol) to PPUFA (mol) in the liver varied from 0.16 to 0.48. The relationship of these data to the “VESD” syndrome is discussed in the light of other published data.