Tissue Deposition and Residue Depletion in Laying Hens Exposed to Melamine-Contaminated Diets

• Published in: Journal of agricultural and food chemistry 2010-05, Vol.58 (9), p.5414-5420
• Main Authors: Bai, Xue, Bai, Fan, Zhang, Keying, Lv, Xiaowen, Qin, Yuchang, Li, Yun, Bai, Shiping, Lin, Shunquan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Chemical Aspects of Food Safety; chemical residues; Chickens; Diet; dietary exposure; experimental diets; feed contamination; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Female; Food Contamination; Food industries; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; hen feeding; laying hens; melamine; tissue analysis; tissue distribution; Triazines - administration & dosage; Triazines - pharmacokinetics; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems
• ISSN: 0021-8561; 1520-5118
• DOI: 10.1021/jf904026n

To investigate the deposition and elimination of melamine in hen eggs and tissues, 72 Roman laying hens were administrated with melamine at 8.6−140.9 mg per kilogram of body weight per day for 34 days. The crystals were found in one of three kidneys of hens treated with melamine at either 62.6 or 140.9 mg/kg. Furthermore, the melamine concentrations in egg, muscle, liver, kidney, stomach, duodenum, uterus, ovary, and blood plasma were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography−ultraviolet (HPLC−UV) methods. A higher dosage of melamine in the diet corresponded to higher concentrations in tissues and eggs. The concentrations of melamine in tissues were in the following ranges (μg/g): egg, 1.1−28.7; muscle, 0.4−9.3; liver, 0.5−6.9; kidney, 1.3−21.7; stomach, 0.4−7.3; duodenum, 0.3−2.8; uterus, 0.5−6.9; ovary, 0.5−9.1; and blood plasma, 0.8−7.6. When melamine was withdrawn from the diet of hens, the melamine concentration in hen tissues fell to below 2.5 μg/g by day 10 and no residues were detected in eggs or tissues at days 7 and 20, respectively.