TITLE:
Uranium Metabolism Associated with Ontogenetic Growth of Birds—Case Studies with Broilers and Ducks
AUTHORS:
Joao Dias de Toledo Arruda-Neto, Guacyara Tenorio Cavalcante, Guilherme de Paula Nogueira, Tulio Eduardo Rodrigues, Luiz Eduardo Correa Fonseca, Mitiko Saiki, Godofredo Camara Genofre
KEYWORDS:
Cobb Broilers, Domestic Ducks, Uranium-Doped-Ration, Uranium-Content in Bones, U/Ca Metabolism, Uranium Residence Times
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Bioscience and Biotechnology,
Vol.5 No.9,
August
19,
2014
ABSTRACT: Cobb broilers and
domestic ducks, both one-day-old, were treated using ration doped with 20 ppm
of uranyl nitrate. Uranium concentrations in the tibia (μg-U/g-bone) were
measured by neutron activation analysis as function of the animals’ age, from
the neonatal period to maturity. Results show that Uranium and Calcium
qualitatively follow the same metabolic pathway, and that adult ducks
incorporate on average ten times more Uranium than broilers. Data
interpretation shows that the Uranium clearance rate in broilers is
substantially higher than that in ducks, suggesting that metabolic
characteristics favoring Calcium retention in bone may hinder the elimination of Uranium in ducks. The need for further comparative
biochemistry studies between Galliformes and Anseriformes is addressed.