Effects of different types of polyunsaturated fatty acids on immune function and PGE2 synthesis by peripheral blood leukocytes of laying hens

Abstract Three hundred and sixty 60-week-old Hyline brown laying hens were randomly allocated into 10 groups and fed maize–soya bean meal-based diets with different sources and levels of fat: control diet (no fat added), three fish oil (FO) supplementation levels (10, 30 and 50 g/kg), three linseed oil (LO) supplementation levels (20, 40 and 60 g/kg) and three maize oil (MO) supplementation levels (20, 40 and 60 g/kg). Results showed that laying performance of hens was not influenced by oil source and level. The anti-bovine serum albumin (BSA) antibody production was significantly influenced by oil source ( P P 2 by peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) ( P 2 production increased quadratically ( P 2 production was in hens fed fish oil. There were significantly negative correlations between PGE 2 synthesis and lysozyme activity ( R 2 = 0.59, P = 0.010), between PGE 2 synthesis and anti-BSA antibody production on day 10 ( R 2 = 0.38, P = 0.075) or day 14 ( R 2 = 0.45, P = 0.045), but PGE 2 synthesis was enhanced quadratically ( P