Blood concentrations of hepatic enzymes and minerals
as well as energy and protein metabolism parameters
are displayed in Table 5. Dietary glycerin did not
affect alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase,
and alkaline phosphatase (P > 0.05). The serum
gamma-glutamyl transferase was quadratically affected
by treatments (P = 0.01), showing the lowest value on
G15; on the other hand, serum glucose concentrations
were quadratically affected by increasing inclusion of
crude glycerin (P = 0.04), showing the greater value
on G15. Plasma cholesterol was reduced linearly (P
= 0.002) from 93.9 (G0) to 59.5 mg/dL (G30), and
triglycerides were not affected by dietary treatments
(P > 0.05). Plasma amylase concentrations were not
affected by crude glycerin addition (P = 0.848), but
this by-product reduced linearly the total protein (P
= 0.005) and had a quadratic effect on albumin (P =
0.04) concentrations. The other indicators evaluated,
including urea, creatinine, and plasma minerals (Ca,P, Mg, Na, K, ionized Ca), were not altered by dietary
treatments.