Selenium (Se) is an essential dietary trace element participating in the regulation of various physiological functions in humans, farm animals and poultry through its incorporation into a range of selenoproteins. Low Se content in main feed ingredients is a common problem worldwide and dietary Se supplementation is a current practise in poultry and farm animal nutrition. Recent research clearly proved that sodium selenite, used for the last 40 years as a feed supplement, is not an optimal form of Se. However, use of organic selenium in animal/poultry diets can help meeting Se requirement and...

Commercial poultry production is associated with various types of stress leading to decrease of productive and reproductive performance and compromised health of growing chickens, parent birds as well as commercial layers. Stress adaptation is associated with various signaling pathways and is executed at the gene level. The term vitagenes refers to a group of redox-sensitive genes that are involved in stress sensing and preserving cellular adaptive homeostasis. The vitagene family includes heat shock proteins, superoxide dismutase, glutathione and thioredoxin systems and sirtuins. The...

Selenium (Se) is an essential dietary trace element participating in the regulation of various physiological functions in humans, farm animals and poultry through its incorporation into a range of selenoproteins. Low Se content in main feed ingredients is a common problem worldwide and dietary Se supplementation is a current practise in pig nutrition. Recent research clearly proved that sodium selenite, used as a feed supplement for the last 45 years, is not an optimal form of Se. However, use of organic selenium in pig diets can help meeting Se requirement and maintain health/high...