Monitoring of feeds selenium status in a southeast region of Romania.

One hundred and eighty-five samples of feeds (hays, green plants, and concentrate feed) from households covering 41 localities in Dobrudja, a southeast region of Romania, were collected and analyzed for selenium (Se) content by spectrofluorometry with 2,3-diaminonaphthalene. Only 6.5% of the samples analyzed were, in terms of the feed Se content, considered appropriate (i.e., 0.15-0.30 ppm), within the normal range. The remaining 93.5% proved to be Se deficient; the results fell into the 0.001-0.150 ppm range. Consequently, the samples were divided into three deficiency groups based on the content recorded as follows: severe for 3.2% (Se below 0.01 ppm), critical for 84.9% (Se in the 0.01-0.1 ppm range), and marginal for 5.4% (Se in the 0.1-0.15 ppm range). Conclusively, the Dobrudja feeds may be said to be generally Se deficient, which requires prophylactic and therapeutic measures to correct animal selenium deficiency.

Fluorimetric study of the selenium course in the dam-calf relationship.

This study was conducted in a southeast region of Romania, known to be selenium (Se) deficient. The fluorimetric method for the determination of Se in biological samples was used in a study on the serum Se content in time in a group of 10 cows with a high milk yield and in their calves. The same cows were sampled antepartum (late pregnancy) and postpartum (1, 7, 21, 30, and 60 d), and the calves were sampled on d 1 of life and 7, 21, 30, and 60 d postcalving. Colostrum and milk samples were also collected and analyzed at the same times. Throughout the study, the serum Se content in both the cows and the calves was below the reference values (0.040-0.100 microg/mL), except the control conducted 7 d postpartum, for which it was 0.044 +/- 0.017 and 0.023 +/- 0.007 mg/mL in cows and calves, respectively. The most significant drops were recorded 21 (p<0.01) and 60 d postpartum (p<0.05). The colostrum Se was higher (0.036 +/- 0.022 microg/mL), decreasing progressively throughout the study to the normal low limit (0.005 microg/mL). The milk Se concentration was lower by approx 78% than the colostrum one on d 1 postcalving. These data demonstrate the course of hyposelenosis both in the cows and their calves. The maternal body proved to "mobilize," even in case of deficiency, important Se amounts in the colostrum, during the first days in particular.