Table 5.

Effects of MHA-Zn on mineral concentration and MT mRNA expression of liver of aged laying hens.¹

	Experimental treatment
Items	80 mg/kg ZnSO4	20 mg/kg MHA-Zn2	40 mg/kg MHA-Zn	80 mg/kg MHA-Zn	P-Value
Zn concentration of liver (mg/kg)
Week 59 to 62	81.27 ± 4.31a,b	78.94 ± 5.19b	86.27 ± 5.92a	86.76 ± 6.72a	0.032
Week 63 to 66	78.59 ± 5.56b,c	75.94 ± 6.56c	83.16 ± 3.26a,b	84.74 ± 6.13a	0.015
Week 67 to 70	76.27 ± 4.31a,b	74.08 ± 4.20b	81.28 ± 6.54a	82.11 ± 7.13a	0.035
Week 71 to 72	74.09 ± 4.34b	73.94 ± 6.56b	80.92 ± 3.75a	81.29 ± 4.65a	0.004
MT mRNA expression of liver
Week 72	1.00 ± 0.03c	0.62 ± 0.07d	2.45 ± 0.07b	2.67 ± 0.04a	<0.001

¹Data represent the means from 8 replicates per treatment. Values are the means ± SD.

²MHA-Zn: methionine hydroxy analog chelate zinc.

^a–dMeans with different superscripts within the same row are significantly different (P < 0.05). MT: metallothionein.