Small Ruminant Research 114 (2013) 86–89 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Small Ruminant Research jou rnal h om epa ge: www.elsevier.com/locate/smallrumres Counteracting the hematological toxicity of gossypol by using selenium supplementation in rams M.Y. El-Mokadem, T.A. Taha ∗ , M.A. Samak, A.M. Yassen Animal Production Department, Faculty of Agriculture (El-Shatby), Alexandria University, Alexandria 22545, Egypt a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 7 September 2011 Received in revised form 1 December 2012 Accepted 12 June 2013 Available online 7 July 2013 Keywords: Gossypol Selenium Hematological parameters Rams a b s t r a c t This study was conducted to evaluate the hematological toxicity of natural gossypol in ration and the ability of selenium supplementation to alleviate this toxicity in rams. Twenty-five mature crossbred (Barki × Rahmani) rams were randomly divided into five equal groups. The first group served as a control (received ration contained 0 gossypol). The second and third groups received rations containing 9 and 14 mg of free gossypol/kg Bw/day (low level and high level of gossypol), respectively. The fourth and fifth groups received the same rations given to the second and third groups, respectively, and an oral administration of 1 mg selenium (as sodium selenite) per day for each animal. Results showed that both levels of gossypol reduced (P < 0.05) hemoglobin concentration, packed cell volume, mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular hemoglobin compared to control. On the other hand, selenium supplementation showed improvements (P < 0.05) in hemoglobin concen- tration, red blood cells counts and packed cell volume compared to absence of selenium. Furthermore, selenium supplementation in ration containing low level of gossypol failed to alleviate the hematological toxicity of gossypol, but selenium supplementation in ration containing high level of gossypol successfully improved most of hematological parameters. In conclusion, natural gossypol in ration induced hematological toxicity in rams and this toxicity could be successfully alleviated by selenium supplementation. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Even though whole cottonseed and cottonseed meal are important sources of protein for ruminants, they con- tain toxic polyphenolic pigment gossypol; the toxicity of gossypol is considered to be as free gossypol (Beradi and Goldblatt, 1980). Ruminants can exhibit similar patho- logical changes like monogastric species if dietary levels exceed the detoxification capacity of the rumen. Increas- ing dose of gossypol resulted in significant reduction in hemoglobin concentration and packed cell volume (PCV) in calves (Risco et al., 1992; Velasquez-Pereira et al., 1999) and increase in erythrocyte fragility in goats (Solamin ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +20 335921960; fax: +20 335922780. E-mail address: tahaataha@yahoo.com (T.A. Taha). et al., 2009; Menges, 1991) consuming gossypol. In addi- tion, some gossypol toxicity signs have been related to a decrease in antioxidants concentrations (Lane and Stuart, 1990) and this toxicity can be reversed by feeding antiox- idant materials (Velasquez-Pereira et al., 1998). So, the present study was designed to evaluate the hematological toxicity of feeding cottonseed meal and the effectiveness of selenium to counteract potential gossypol effects on hema- tological parameters of rams. 2. Materials and methods This study was carried out at the Agricultural Experimental Station (31 ◦ 20 ′ N, 30 ◦ E), Department of Animal Reproduction, Faculty of Agriculture, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt. Experiments were carried out after the Department approval, and were done without any commercial profit purposes for the Authors or the Department. All procedures and experimental protocols were conducted in accordance with the “Guide for the Care and Use of Agricultural Animals in Research 0921-4488/$ – see front matter © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.smallrumres.2013.06.005