The effect of commercially available chicken feed and chicken meat on body weight and serum estrogen levels in female albino Wistar rats

In Pakistan, the most favorable consumption in meat nowadays is chicken. The inclination of the dietary pattern to chicken meat more than red meat may be because of its better taste, easy availability and low cost. At the same time, there is an increase in prevalence of polycystic ovaries 5 to 10% in Pakistan. The present study was designed to investigate the effects of the chicken feed and chicken meat on the growth, body weight and the serum estrogen levels in the female albino wistar rats. Seventy five female albino wistar rats were used in the experiment, randomly assigned to three groups (n=25); control rats fed on chow, chicken feed treated rats and chicken meat treated rats for a period of 6 weeks. Body weight and serum estrogen levels were estimated before and after the treatment whereas growth rates were calculated after the experiment. A significant increase in growth rate and serum estrogen levels (P<0.05) was observed in both test groups as compared to control group. This increase was however more in chicken meat (III) as compared to chicken feed (II) group (p <0.05). It is therefore suggested that the potential cause of weight gain, growth and increased estrogen levels may be result of dietary inclination of people towards chicken meat leading to polycystic ovaries (PCOs) and infertiity.   Key words: Chicken feed, chicken meat, estrogens, growth rate.