Effect of Pinealectomy and Melatonin Administration on Jejunal Mucosal Enzymes and Performance of Young Broiler Chickens

摘要

Thakur, R., Tyagi, J.S., Mohan, J. and Sastry, K.V.H. 2006. Effect of pinealectomy and melatonin administration on jejunal mucosal enzymes and performance of young broiler chickens. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 30:137?￠????140. To understand the role of gut melatonin on digestive enzymes and performance, day-old chicks (n=144) were divided into three groups i.e. control, sham operated and pinealectomised and kept under continuous light. Half of the birds from each group were administered melatonin (5mg/kg b wt) intraperitonealy, up to 20 days. Birds were sacrificed at d 10 and 20. Pinealectomy did not produce any significant variation while exogenous melatonin supplementation produced a significant increase (P<0.05) in mucosal amylase, trypsin and improved feed conversion ratio indicating that under continuous light exogenous melatonin had a positive effect on some jejunal mucosal enzymes.