PERINATAL VITAMIN E SUPPLEMENTATION OF EWES IN LATE PREGNANCY ENHANCES GROWTH, IMMUNE STATUS AND TESTICULAR DEVELOPMENT IN LAMBS

M. Ahmed Kafi

doi:10.56093/ijvasr.v55i4.181109

Authors

M. Ahmed Kafi Veterinarian and Researcher, Department of Animal Health, Behavior and Welfare, Harper Adams University, UK

https://doi.org/10.56093/ijvasr.v55i4.181109

Keywords:

Vitamin E supplementation, growth performance, Immune development, testicular development, late pregnancy

Abstract

The aim of the research was to determine the impact of the perinatal vitamin E supplement on late pregnancy on lamb growth, hematological and immune status and testicular development. The study randomly grouped forty healthy ewes in the final six weeks gestation period to eithera control group fed on basal diet or a treated group fed on the same dietary basis but with 200IU/kg/day of vitamin E being added to the feed. The same conditions of postnatal management were provided to the lambs. Body weight at birth and weaning, average daily gain and the body measurements were used to measure the growth performance. Blood samples were collected from the lambs at birth, 30 and 60 days to test hematological and immune parameters. In male lambs testicular development was followed every month. An independent samples t-test was used to analyze the data at the significance level of P < 0.05. The weight of the lambs at birth (4.13 + -0.31 kg) and at weaning (17.70 + -2.05 kg) of supplemented ewes was significantly higher than the control lambs (3.63+-0.34kg and 10.88+-0.99kg, respectively). The treated group also had an average daily gain that was higher (150.84 ± 20.30 g/day vs. 80.55 ± 9.80 g/ day). Comprehensively, maternal supplementation with vitamin E increased growth, physiological well-being as well as reproductive maturation of lambs.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Abbi, A.(2020). Factors affecting the response of pregnant and lactating ewes to vitamin E supplementation (Doctoral dissertation, Harper Adams University).

Abruzzese, G.A., Arbocco, F.C.V., Ferrer, M.J., Silva, A.F. and Motta, A.B. (2023). Role of hormones during gestation and early development: pathways involved in developmental programming. In Advances in Maternal-Fetal Biomedicine: Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Pregnancy Pathologies (pp. 31-70). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Ahmed, S., Liu, G., Sadiq, A.,Yang, H.,Yongbin, L., Farooq, U. and Jiang, X. (2025). Synergistic effect of maternal micronutrient supplementation on ORFV DNA vaccine immune response in a pregnant model. Biological Trace Element Research, 203(3): 1582-1599.

Aslan, F.A. (2025). The role of antioxidants in enhancing reproductive performance in sheep: physiological, molecular, and applied perspectives. Black Sea Journal of Agriculture, 8(6): 875-884.

Bouroutzika, E., Ciliberti, M.G., Caroprese, M., Theodosiadou, E., Papadopoulos, S., Makri, S., and Valasi, I. (2021). Association of melatonin administration in pregnant ewes with growth, redox status and immunity of their offspring. Animals,11(11): 3161.

Devaraj, C., Nair, M.R. and Sejian,V. (2023). Physiology of Growth. In Text book of Veterinary Physiology (pp. 677-693). Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore.

Hasan, D. (2025). Maternal nutrition and antioxidant defenses: integrative studies in cell, animal, and field models.

Heidari, T., Batavani, R.A., Malekinejad, H. and Hobbenaghi, R. (2022). Evaluation of di-n-butyl phthalate reproductive toxicity in pregnant rats and their offspring and assessment of vitamin E administration in reducing toxicity. In Veterinary Research Forum, 13(2): 201.

Jacobson, C., Clune, T., Besier, S., Barber, S. and Abbott, K. A. (2024). Reproduction 3: disorders of ewes in pregnancy and lactation, abortion, prenatal and perinatal diseases of lambs. In Sheep Veterinary Practice (pp. 157-185). CRC Press.

Khatib, H. (2021). Trans generational epigenetic in heritance in farm animals:How substantial is the evidence?.Livestock Science, 250: 104557.

Lakshmaiah, V.V., Jain, S., Das, T., Prakash, T., Srivastava, Y., Ballakoor, A.R. and Nagella, P. (2025). Nutraceuticals in Pregnancy.In Nutraceuticals for the Treatment and Prevention of Sexual Disorders (pp. 163-201). Apple Academic Press.

Man, X. (2020). Nursing of vitamin E cream topical application on the abdomen skin of rabbits during pregnancy. Revista Científica de la Facultad de CienciasVeterinarias, 30(4): 2118-2126.

Moran, N. and Karrow, N.A. (2024). Selenium and its effects on the health of sheep and other domesticated ruminants. Selenium in ruminant nutrition and health, 433.

Parraguez Gamboa, V., Sales Zlatar, F.A., Peralta Troncoso, Ó.A., Reyes Solovera, M.I.D.L., Campos, A., González, J. and González Bulnes, A. (2021). Maternal supplementation with herbal antioxidants during pregnancy in swine.

Parraguez, V.H., Sales, F., Peralta, O.A., Narbona, E., Lira, R., De los Reyes, M. and González-Bulnes, A. (2020). Supplementation of under fed twin- bearing ewes with herbal vitamins C and E: Impacts on birth weight, postnatal growth, and pre-weaning survival of the lambs. Animals, 10(4): 652.

Parraguez, V.H., Sales, F.,Peralta, O.A., Delos Reyes, M., Campos, A., González, J. and González-Bulnes, A. (2021). Maternal supplementation with herbal antioxidants during pregnancy in swine. Antioxidants, 10(5): 658.

Pérez Segura, L.F., Ramirez, R.F., Relling, A.E., Roque-Jimenez, J.A., Zhang, N., Vargas-Bello-Pérez, E. and Lee-Rangel, H.A. (2023). Effects of maternal calcium propionate supplementation on offspring productivity and meat metabolomic profile in sheep. PloS one, 18(12), e0294627.

Polizel, G.H.G., Espigolan, R., Fantinato- Neto, P., de Francisco Strefezzi, R., Rangel, R.B., De Carli, C. and de Almeida Santana, M.H. (2023). Different prenatal supplementation strategies and it impacts on reproductive and nutrigenetics assessments of bulls in finishing phase. Veterinary Research Communications, 47(2): 457-471.

Rodriguez, M., Trevisan, B., Ramamurthy, R.M., George, S.K., Diaz, J., Alexander, J. and Almeida-Porada, G. (2023). Transplanting FVIII/ET3- secreting cells in fetal heep increases FVIII levels long-term without inducing immunity or toxicity. Nature Communications, 14(1): 4206.

Shastak,Y. and Pelletier, W. (2024). Review of liquid vitamin A and E formulations in veterinary and livestock production: Applications and perspectives. Veterinary Sciences, 11(9): 421.

Shokrollahi, B., Park, M., Jang, G.S., Jin, S., Moon, S.J., Um, K.H. and Baek, Y.C. (2025). Maternal over nutrition in beef cattle: effects on fetal programming, metabolic health, and postnatal outcomes. Biology, 14(6): 645.

Shrestha, N., Ezechukwu, H.C., Holland, O.J. and Hryciw, D.H. (2020). Developmental programming of peripheral diseases in offspring exposed to maternal obesity during pregnancy. American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, 319(5): R507-R516.

Siddiqui, M.A., Ahmad, U., Ali, A., Ahsan, F. and Haider, M.F. (2021).Role of vitamin E in pregnancy. In Vitamin E in Health and Disease-Interactions, Diseases and Health Aspects. IntechOpen.

Stenhouse, C., Suva, L.J., Gaddy, D.,Wu,G. and Bazer, F.W. (2021). Phosphate, calcium, and vitamin D: key regulators of fetal and placental development in mammals. Recent Advances in Animal Nutrition and Metabolism, 77-107.

Tashla, T. (2021). Oxidative stress during pregnancy and lactation of Lohi sheeps (Doctoral dissertation, University Business Academy in Novi Sad (Serbia)).

Tüfekci, H. and Sejian,V. (2023). Stress factors and their effects on productivity in sheep. Animals, 13(17): 2769.