Supplementation with a Combination of Vitamin A, E, C and Essential Volatile Oils Improves Growth Performance and Ameliorates Antioxidant Status in Holstein Calves

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of supplementation with a combination of vitamin E, A and C and essential volatile oils (Super Immune®) on growth performance and antioxidant parameters in calves. For this purpose, twenty-five Holstein calves were randomly allocated into five equal sized groups (five each). The first group received a daily dose of 10 ml of Super Immune® which was given orally. The second group was supplemented with 100,000 IU Vit A and given intramuscularly. The third group was supplemented with Vit. E, at a dose rate of 6.66 IU/kg BW and given subcutaneously. Meanwhile, the fourth group was supplemented with Vit. C at a dose rate of 30 mg/kg and given intravenously. The former formula was given orally for five consecutive days, while the later supplements were given twice with 72 hours apart.  Calves of the fifth group received a sterile saline solution (0.9 % NaCl) and served as control group. Calves received a combination of vitamins and volatile oils showed significant increase of the body weight compared with control group at 6 weeks post-treatment (p<0.05). There was also a significant increase of total antioxidant capacity (TAC) (p< 0.01), Glutathione reductase (GR) (p<0.05) and Glutathione-S-transferase (GST) (p<0.05) in calves received combination compared with other groups. However, there was a significant decrease of malondialdehyde (MDA) (p<0.01). On the other hand, other parameters showed non-significant changes. The results of the present study indicate that a combination of vitamin A, E and C and volatile oils (Super Immune®) may have better effect on body weight gain and antioxidant status in suckling calves than supplementation with single vitamin.