ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Animal Nutrition and Metabolism
Effects of Dietary Selenium Yeast Supplementation on Production Performance, Nutrient Apparent Digestibility, Serum Antioxidant Parameters, and Selenoprotein Content in Velvet Antlers of Sika Deer (Cervus nippon)
Provisionally accepted
- 1Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, China
- 2Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Institute of Special Animal and Plant Sciences, Changchun, China
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This study investigated the effects of different dietary selenium yeast levels on production performance, apparent nutrient digestibility, serum antioxidant status, and selenoprotein expression in the velvet antlers of sika deer (Cervus nippon). Twenty healthy, 5-year-old male sika deer with similar body condition during the antler growth stage were randomly assigned to four groups (n = 5): SY1 (control), SY2, SY3, and SY4. The experimental diets were supplemented with 0, 0.3, 1.2, and 4.8 mg/kg selenium yeast, respectively. The pre-feeding period lasted 7 days, followed by a 60-day experimental period. Antler weight and dimensions were numerically higher in the SY3 compared with the other groups, although the differences were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Apparent digestibility of dry matter, calcium, and phosphorus in SY2 was significantly greater than in SY1 and SY3 (P < 0.01). Serum antioxidant analysis showed that glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) activities in SY2 were significantly higher than in the control group (P < 0.05). Selenoprotein expression analysis indicated that SELENOP mRNA expression in the mesenchymal layer of SY3 was significantly upregulated compared with SY1 and SY2 (P < 0.05). GPX4 protein expression in the mesenchymal, transition, and cartilage layers of SY2 was markedly higher than in SY1 (P < 0.01), whereas SELENOP protein expression across all antler layers in SY3 was significantly higher than in SY1, SY2, and SY4 (P < 0.01).In conclusion, dietary supplementation with 0.3 mg/kg selenium yeast enhanced nutrient digestibility and serum antioxidant capacity in sika deer. Furthermore, both 0.3 and 1.2 mg/kg selenium yeast increased the abundance of several selenoproteins in velvet antlers.
Keywords: Nutrient digestibility, Production performance, Selenium yeast, Selenoprotein, Serum Antioxidant Parameters, Sika deer
Received: 30 Oct 2025; Accepted: 19 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sun, Huang, Shi, Li, Liu, Zhou and Zhao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Haiping Zhao
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