differences in intestinal absorptive capacity of chickens for d-xylose

background: according to literature, there are differences among different species of animals in respect to absorption of d-xylose. objectives: in two experiments, the differences that might exist in absorptive capacity of small intestine for d-xylose, in different types of chicken were tested. methods: in experiment one, 2 groups of nine adult layer type males (48 weeks) and females (58 weeks), and in experiment two, 4 groups of ten young (4 week) broiler type or layer type male or female chickens were dosed d-xylose solution (50 mg/ml, 500 mg/kg bw), orally. one blood sample before, and 5 others immediately after the administration of d-xylose solution, were taken from wing vein of the birds at 30 minute intervals for 150 minutes, and the concentration of d-xylose in plasma was measured. results: in experiment one, d-xylose concentration reached its peak at 60 to 90 min in both adult males and females, and followed a quadratic trend with time (r2 for adult males = 0.735 and adult females = 0.801). in experiment two, d-xylose concentration reached its peak at 60 min for all experimental groups and followed a quadratic trend with time (r2 for broiler type male = 0.681, broiler type female = 0.850, layer type male = 0.695 and layer type female = 0.748). conclusions: d-xylose test was shown to be a sensitive tool for the evaluation of intestinal absorption capacity of chicken. this test revealed that there were some differences in absorption function of intestine among the birds with different breeds, sexes, ages, and nutritional demands