Dietary vitamin E and selenium supplementation improve hematological responses and productivity of growing goats consuming diluted seawater under tropical conditions

Vet World Vol.19 February-2026 Article - 2

Research Article

Veterinary World, 19(2): 481-492

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2026.481-492

Nguyen Thiet¹, Nguyen Thanh Dat², Nguyen Trong Ngu¹, Narongsak Chaiyabutr^3,4, and Sumpun Thammacharoen³

1. Faculty of Animal Science, College of Agriculture, Can Tho University, 3/2 Street, Can Tho City 94000, Vietnam.

2. Hau Giang campus, Can Tho University, 3/2 Street, Can Tho City 94000, Vietnam.

3. Department of Physiology, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.

4. The Academy of Science, The Royal Society of Thailand, Dusit, Bangkok 10300, Thailand. .

Background and Aim: Saline water use in livestock production is increasingly common in coastal and delta regions due to freshwater scarcity, but prolonged intake may compromise productivity, physiological balance, and immune function in small ruminants. Excessive intake of sodium (Na) and chloride (Cl) can induce osmotic and oxidative stress, which may disrupt hematological homeostasis and growth performance. Antioxidant nutrients such as vitamin E (VitE) and selenium (Se) can enhance cellular protection and immune resilience under environmental stress. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of dietary VitE and Se supplementation on productivity, hematological responses, and selected biochemical parameters in growing goats consuming diluted seawater (DSW) under tropical conditions.

Materials and Methods: Ten crossbred Boer male goats (6 months old; body weight [BW] 16.66 ± 0.52 kg) were allocated to a completely randomized design with two treatments and five replicates per group over a 5-week experimental period. Goats in the control group received no supplementation, whereas goats in the treatment group received a daily premix providing 60 mg VitE and 0.9 mg Se per head. All goats consumed fresh water during period 1 (P1), followed by 1% DSW during period 2 (P2) and 2% DSW during periods 3 and 4 (P3–P4), before returning to fresh water in period 5 (P5). Dry matter intake (DMI) and water intake (WI) were recorded daily, whereas BW, plasma electrolytes, liver and kidney function indicators, and hematological parameters were measured weekly. Data were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models including treatment, period, and their interaction.

Results: DMI was not significantly affected by DSW concentration or VitE–Se supplementation. WI increased at 1% DSW but declined at 2% DSW, with the supplemented group maintaining higher WI than the control group. BW change decreased in the control group during exposure to 2% DSW, whereas BW remained stable in the supplemented group. DSW increased plasma Na and Cl concentrations and elevated liver enzyme activities, while supplementation attenuated Cl accumulation and moderated Na elevation. Hematological analysis indicated greater leukocyte responses in the control group as DSW salinity increased, whereas the supplemented group maintained more stable hematological profiles. Renal and hepatic indicators remained within physiological reference ranges in both groups.

Conclusion: Dietary VitE and Se supplementation mitigated DSW-associated hematological disturbances and supported WI and BW maintenance in growing goats, suggesting a practical nutritional strategy for saline water–affected production systems.

Keywords: antioxidant supplementation, body weight, diluted seawater, goats, hematological responses, saline water, selenium, vitamin E.

How to cite this article: Nguyen T., Nguyen T.D., Nguyen T.N., Chaiyabutr N., Thammacharoen S. Dietary vitamin E and selenium supplementation improves hematological responses and productivity of growing goats consuming diluted seawater under tropical conditions. Vet World, 2026;19(2):481-492.

Received: 30-09-2025 Accepted: 06-01-2026 Published online: 10-02-2026

Corresponding author: Sumpun Thammacharoen E-mail: sprueksagorn@hotmail.com

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2026.481-492

Copyright: Nguyen, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.