Evaluation of biological selenium nanoparticles on growth performance, histopathology of vital organs and genotoxicity in Japanese quails (coturnix coturnix japonica)

Abstract

Research on the effects of selenium nanoparticles (Se-NPs), particularly in Japanese quails, is lacking, especially regarding the potential for DNA damage. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the impact of administering 0.2 and 0.4 mg/kg of Se-NPs on the growth performance, DNA integrity, and histopathological alterations of the liver, lung, kidney, and heart in quails. A total of 480 one-day-old Japanese quails were divided into three experimental groups as follows: Group 1 served as the control and received only basic feed, while Group 2 and 3 received 0.2 mg/kg and 0.4 mg/kg of Se-NPs via oral gavage. Our results suggested that, birds fed with Se-NPs at both levels significantly (p < .01) reduced feed intake, however, weight gain was significantly (p < .01) increased in quails supplemented with 0.2 mg/kg. Similarly, feed conversion ratio (FCR) was significantly (p < .01) reduced in group supplemented with 0.2 mg/kg Se-NPs. White blood cells increased significantly (P0.01) in 0.4 mg/kg while haemoglobin and red cell distribution width decreased (p < .01) in the same group. Both treatment regimens resulted in DNA damage and histopathological alterations; however, the adverse effects were more prominent in the group receiving the higher dose of 0.4 mg/kg. These findings indicate that the lower dose of 0.2 mg/kg may have beneficial effects on growth. However, the higher dose of 0.4 mg/kg not only negatively impacts growth but also leads to histopathological alterations in major organs of the body and DNA damage as well.

Keywords:

• Comet assay
• cytotoxicity
• genotoxicity
• growth performance
• histopathology
• Japanese quail
• Selenium-nanoparticles

Acknowledgement

We extend our appreciation to the Researchers Supporting Project (No. RSPD2024R833), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Authors contributions

Shabana Naz: conceptualization, validation

Rida Nadeem: sampling and data analysis, investigation

Gulnaz Bibi: Methodology and conceptualization, data curation

Ibrahim A. Alhidary: drafting manuscript, review, visualization

Rifat Ullah Khan: Drafting and Editing manuscript and submission

Dai Sifa: data curation, Final proofs reading and editing

Ethical approval

The Committee on Animal Rights and Welfare, GC University Faisalabad, Pakistan approved this study (DZ/34/2023)

Consent to participate

All authors are agreed to submit the article to this journal

Consent to publish

All authors are agreed to publish in this journal

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

On request.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.