Ameliorating arsenic toxicity in young goats: assessing vitamin E and Saccharomyces cerevisiae on feed intake, carcass quality, mineral profiles in tissues and impending health risks to humans.

This study aimed to assess the efficacy of vitamin E, yeast culture (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), and a combined supplement of both in alleviating the impacts of arsenic exposure on young goats. Alongside, we investigated feed consumption, carcass traits, arsenic levels in blood and organs, mineral distribution in different tissues, and potential human health risks from consuming meat from arsenic-exposed goats. Thirty healthy male Black Bengal goat weaned kids, averaging 6.15 ± 0.32 kg and 142.87 ± 9.28 days old, were involved in the trial. They were divided into five equal treatment groups. The diet consisted of chopped sorghum sudan grass as roughage and a concentrate mixture for growth and maintenance of young goats. Arsenic was administered through the concentrate as sodium arsenite, with T₀ as the control (no arsenic). To prevent stress-related issues, kids under T₁-T₄ groups received gradually increasing arsenic doses over a three-week adaptation period, followed by a consistent 50 ppm dose for 17 weeks. Vitamin E and yeast culture were introduced concurrently with arsenic exposure, with DL-α-Tocopherol added to the concentrate at 250 IU/kg of feed dry matter for T₂ and T₄, and T₃ and T₄ received 4 × 10⁹ colony forming units of yeast culture (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) daily. High arsenic levels led to reduced feed dry matter intake (g/kg body weight) (p = 0.01) and crude protein consumption (g/kg body weight) (p < 0.001) in arsenic-challenged goats. However, supplementation with vitamin E, yeast culture, or both mitigated these effects and decreased blood arsenic levels (p < 0.001). Interestingly, neither arsenic exposure nor the mitigation strategies significantly impacted the levels of Ca, P, Mg, Cu, Mn, Zn and Fe in various organs and carcass components except for liver copper levels, which showed a negative correlation (p < 0.008) with arsenic concentration. Organs such as the liver, kidneys and testes accumulated higher (p < 0.001) arsenic levels compared to other body parts. Vitamin E, alone or with yeast culture, significantly reduced (p < 0.001) arsenic deposition in carcass components, while yeast culture alone showed no additional benefit. Despite supplementation, arsenic levels in meat and carcass parts from exposed goats (T₁, T₂, T₃ and T₄) remained higher (p < 0.001) than in the control group, posing a cancer risk exceeding acceptable thresholds value (1 × 10^-6). Vitamin E supplementation, alone or combined with S. cerevisiae, partially mitigated arsenic deposition in various organs and body parts, offering a promising solution to the issue.