Abstract
The aim of this study was to determine the effect of different doses of chromium on liver in chickens. For this purpose, a total of 200 chickens were chosen and randomly divided into four equal groups: control group administered with normal diet; chromium groups (three equal groups) were treated with basal diet supplemented with chromium @ 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg. The mortality rate, liver pathological changes, the contents of serum antioxidant capacity and biochemical were examined on day 14, 21, 28 and 35 from each group. The results showed that chromium can increase the number of deaths of chickens and induce hepatotoxicity significantly (P<0.05). Moreover, the high dose of chromium increased the contents of AST, GGT and ALT in serum along with increased the oxidative stress via decreasing the level of SOD, CTA and GSH-Px. These results suggest that irrational use of chromium can cause toxic affect in chickens. Thus, our study provides the experimental basis for the practical applications of chromium as feed additive in chickens. (C) 2018 Friends Science Publishers