Effect of In Ovo Vitamin C Injection against Mobile Phone Radiation on Post-Hatch Performance of Broiler Chicks

This study aimed to investigate the effect of in ovo injection of vitamin C to reduce the harmful effects of electromagnetic waves (EMWs) emitted from mobile phones on chicken embryos. In this study, a total of 750 fertilized eggs of Ross 308 were exposed to EMWs for 1050 min during the incubation period. On the 17th day of incubation, the eggs were divided into three groups and solutions were injected into the amnion sac of embryos. The chicks were housed separately in accordance with in ovo treatments for 5 wk after hatching. An in ovo vitamin C injection resulted in a lower hatching weight. The post-hatch mortality or production efficiency factor of birds in the in ovo vitamin C injection group and the intact egg group were comparable, and were better than that of the other negative control group. In ovo vitamin C injection in eggs subjected to EMWs significantly increased their body weight gain, carcass weight, abdominal fat weight, and AST levels, but reduced spleen weight and PON-1 levels. In conclusion, an in ovo vitamin C injection in eggs subject to mobile phone EMWs improved the post-hatch performance of chicks, but low PON and high AST activities indicate an increase in oxidative damage among broiler chicks.

Morphometric evaluation of Japanese quail embryos and their extraembryonic vascular networks exposed to low-frequency magnetic field with two different intensities

Animals developed or in an embryonic stage, are constantly subjected to magnetic pollution generated by electrical and electronic devices. Several researches have used the bird embryo as an experimental model to evaluate the action of magnetic field (MF) and electromagnetic field (EMF). This study proposed to perform a morphometric evaluation in the embryos and in the blood vascular network of the yolk sac membranes (YSM) of Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) exposed to the 60 Hz MF with two different intensities (0.16 and 0.65 mT). A total of 30 eggs were used, 10 eggs were used for each assay. Each assay formed a group (control group, group submitted to the MF of 0.16 mT and 0.65 mT). The images of the skeletonized vascular network of YSM were evaluated by two methods of fractal dimension: box-counting dimension (D_bc) and information dimension (D_inf). The embryos were evaluated by body mass, percentage cephalic length and body area. The fractal dimensions revealed no difference among groups. There were no significant differences in relation to embryonic body mass among groups. However, the embryos exposed to 0.65 mT MF presented a smaller embryonic body development (body area and percentage cephalic length). In conclusion, 0.16 mT and 0.65 mT magnetic fields were not able to generate significant effects on vasculogenesis and angiogenesis. However, the embryos exposed to 6 h of magnetic field with 0.65 mT intensity and 60 Hz frequency showed a decrease in embryonic body development.