Applications of 25OHD<sub>3</sub> in poultry meat production.
2016
Litta, G.
Vitamin D (cholecalciferol) is essential to humans and animals. Vitamin D<sub>3</sub>, the form active in poultry, can be synthesized endogenously but, as this process has very low efficiency in this species, vitamin D<sub>3</sub> must be supplemented via feed. To become active, vitamin D<sub>3</sub> must be hydroxylated twice in the body: first in the liver to 25OHD<sub>3</sub> and then in the kidney to the active, hormonal form 1,25(OH)<sub>2</sub>D<sub>3</sub>. The 25OHD<sub>3</sub> level in blood plasma is the indicator of the vitamin D nutritional status. Primary function of vitamin D<sub>3</sub> is to regulate both calcium and phosphorus metabolism, hence it plays a pivotal role in bone and skeletal development. For almost two decades now, 25OHD<sub>3</sub> has been commercially available. By feeding this metabolite directly, plasma levels are higher than when fed vitamin D<sub>3</sub> This occurs even more clearly when intestinal diseases or stress impair vitamin D<sub>3</sub> absorption. Both experimental trials and commercial use have indicated that supplementing broiler diets with 25OHD<sub>3</sub> can help improve bone and skeletal health; reduce the incidence of lameness and other bone disorders (e.g. tibial dyschondroplasia); modulate immune response; and improve performance, including having a direct effect on muscle growth mediated by molecular and cellular mechanisms.
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