Antioxidant system of the body of young Ukrainian beef cattle under the action of microelements

Active forms of oxygen are formed in the course of the organism's vital activity in biochemical reactions. These forms, when the pro/antioxidant balance is disturbed, trigger a cascade of lipid peroxidation, which can be the cause of the development of various pathological conditions. To prevent the negative influence of lipid peroxidation products in the body, a powerful antioxidant system is activated. This system consists of an enzymatic and a non-enzymatic link. An important aspect of the normal functioning of this system is the provision of the body with important trace elements. A number of minerals are included in the active center of antioxidant enzymes or have an effect on the reactions of non-enzymatic antioxidants. Research was conducted on fattening bulls of the Ukrainian meat breed. During the monitoring of microelements in feed, it was found that the vast majority of farm feed was deficient in copper, selenium and manganese and for this reason the animals consumed an insufficient amount of these minerals. These data were confirmed by the low content of these trace elements in blood serum. The addition of inorganic salts of microelements to the basic diet led to an increase in the concentration of copper, manganese and selenium in the blood serum by 20.5%, 37.3% and 23.9%. The study of the content of lipid peroxidation products showed that during the 30 days of the experiment, the level of lipid hydroperoxide increased by 25.5%, diene conjugates by 22.8%, and malonic dialdehyde by 22.0%. This indicates that against the background of increased age-related metabolism in the body of young animals, the oxidation-reduction reactions that are a predictor of the start of peroxidation processes increase. It was also noted that with a deficiency of certain trace elements, the activity of both the enzymatic and non-enzymatic links of the antioxidant system was reduced. Thus, in 30 days, the level of catalase, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase decreased by 9.4%, 15.3%, and 13.0%, respectively. During this time, the content of tocopherol and ceruloplasmin decreased by 16.8% and 9.8%. Additives also had a positive effect on the activity of the antioxidant system by increasing its components. Additives of trace elements had different effects on the activity of antioxidant enzymes. The greatest effect on the level of catalase and superoxide dismutase was observed when copper salts were added, when the increase of these enzymes was noted by 1.11 and 1.23 times, respectively. Accordingly, the level of glutathione peroxidase was the highest in animals that received additional selenium – 1.21 times. The addition of copper also had the greatest biological effect on the important non-enzymatic component of antioxidant protection – ceruloplasmin. Its level increased by 1.24 times under the action of copper sulfate. The level of tocopherol was higher under the action of manganese, when its concentration was 1.11 times higher than the control. Against this background, there was a decrease in the products of lipid peroxidation: lipid hydroperoxides – 1.19 times under the action of selenium; diene conjugates – by 1.22 times and malonіс dialdehyde – by 1.11 times under the influence of copper and manganese compounds, respectively.