Research note: lack of an effect of high levels of menadione on tumor development in Japanese quail females

Abstract

The objective of the experiment was to study the influence of a high but nontoxic dietary level of menadione (vitamin K3) on the incidence of leiomyomas and leiomyosarcomas in the oviduct of females from various lines of Japanese quail. Analyzed values of vitamin K3 per 1,000 kg of feed were 7.37 g in the control diet, and 149.6, 1,722, and 3,722 g for the experimental diets from 0 to 4, 5 to 8, and after 8 wk of age, respectively. Females were killed after they had been in production for 158 days. Females from three large-bodied lines had a greater incidence of smooth muscle tumors than those from a smaller randombred control line. The high dietary level of vitamin K3 had no influence on tumor development.