Antibody production in sheep fed a diet containing brown seaweed

The study is aimed to determine the effects of brown seaweed supplement in diet on immunoglobulin (IgG) and specific tetanus toxoid (TT) antibody production in gimmers. The experiment took 280 days. The experimental group E (n=6) was given 71 mg of brown seaweed in its daily diet for the whole period of the experiment, whereas the control group had no supplements in its diet. On the 245th day of the experiment the animals were vaccinated with TT to find out if the levels of antibody production would vary. The revaccination of TT was done 15 days after that. Blood samples were collected 7, 14, 21, 30 and 35 days after the first vaccination. During the study no significant differences of IgG were recorded in the blood serum between groups E and C. The results suggest that the specific TT antibody production decreases by 16% to normal during brown seaweed feeding and should be taken in consideration during targeted immunization.