Effect of Supplementing Heat Stressed Japanese Quail Hens with Withaniasomnifera root Ethanolic Extract and Crude Powder on Serum Lipids and Proteins

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of treating Japanese quail hens subjected to heat stress with the root of Withania somnifera as ethanolic extract or crude powder on serum lipid profile and protein fraction. A total of three hundred, 6 weeks old Japanese quail hens was distributed randomly to five treatments T1= control group (unsupplemtented), T2=administrated orally with 50mg ethanolic extract/ kg body weight, T3= administrated orally with 100mg ethanolic extract/ kg body weight, T4= dietary fed with 1g crude powder/kg diet and T5= dietary fed with 2g crude powder/kg diet. Results showed that treating hens with the root as 100mg ethanolic extract or with 2g as crude powder resulted in significant (pless than0.05) decreasing in low density lipoproteins while high density lipoproteins didnt affected significantly in treating groups at 10 weeks of age in comparison with control while when the birds reach 15 weeks of age, results showed that daily administration with root as ethanolic extract reduced significantly (pless than0.05) triglycerides, very low density lipoproteins, and high density lipoproteins in comparison with control group. The percentage of serum albumin was increased significantly (pless than0.05) in all groups treated with the roots while alpha-1 globulin was increased significantly (pless than0.05) in groups treated with high levels of crude powder or ethanolic extract. Alpha-2 globulin increased significantly (pless than0.05) in group which daily fed with 50mg ethanolic extract while beta and gamma globulins was significantly (pless than0.05) reduced in all treated groups as compared with control. Conclusion It can be concluded from these results that supplementing heat stressed Japanese quail hens with the root of Withania somnifera as ethanolic extract or crude powder could reduce the levels of serum LDL, triglycerides and VLDL whereas the levels of albumin, alpha-1 and alpha-2 globulin will increase.