Hepatic and renal histopathological changes in lambs fed sisal mucilage silage with or without moisture-absorbing additives

Abstract This study evaluated the effects of diets containing sisal mucilage silage, with or without moisture-absorbing additives, on the hepatic and renal histopathological profiles of lambs. Eighteen Soinga lambs (average initial body weight of 19 ± 1.38 kg) were allocated in a completely randomized design among three diets: sisal mucilage silage without additive (SMS); sisal mucilage silage ensiled with wheat bran (SMS-WB); and sisal mucilage silage ensiled with ground corn (SMS-GC). The experimental period lasted 60 days, after 14 days of adaptation to the diets. SMS without additives induced severe hepatic coagulative necrosis and microvesicular steatosis, alongside moderate-to-severe renal proliferative glomerulonephritis and glomerular atrophy. SMS-WB acted as a potent hepatoprotector, completely preventing macrovesicular steatosis and pericentral necrosis while down-grading microvesicular steatosis to a mild degree. In the kidneys, SMS-GC provided the most effective glomerular protection, mitigating both proliferative glomerulonephritis and glomerular atrophy to mild intensities. On the other hand, SMS-WB reduced only glomerular atrophy to a mild level, failing to contain proliferative glomerulonephritis. Renal medullary dystrophic calcification remained unaltered across all treatments (66.6%), indicating an intrinsic lesion profile of sisal mucilage ingestion. In conclusion, while sisal mucilage silage exhibits intrinsic hepatorenal toxicity in lambs, the use of moisture-absorbing additives is a viable mitigation strategy. Wheat bran serves as an effective hepatoprotector, whereas ground corn provides superior glomerular preservation. Therefore, the strategic inclusion of these additives is crucial to enable the safe use of sisal by-products in ruminant nutrition without compromising animal health.