| Summary: | ABSTRACT There are several causes of carcass condemnation in poultry processing plants, including dorsal cranial myopathy (DCM), in which the anterior latissimus dorsi (ALD) muscle is affected. DCM etiology has not been elucidated yet, but this lesion impairs the visual quality of carcasses and causes economic losses due to downgrading and condemnation. The effects of this lesion on the systemic health of broilers are still unknown. In this context, the objective of this study was to evaluate muscle injury and systemic health indicators in broilers presenting or not DCM. The following parameters were evaluated: complete blood count (CBC), total protein, albumin, globulin, cholesterol, lactate, and glucose serum levels, aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and creatine kinase (CK) serum activities, and breast muscle pH. Blood samples were collected from 800 42-day-old broilers before feed withdrawal and transportation. In the processing plant, 28 carcasses presented DCM during inspection, and 28 carcasses with no DCM were used as controls. Blood biochemical parameters were not significantly different between broilers with DCM and the controls, except for AST and CK, which activities were higher in the DCM group than in the control group, suggesting that the DCM does not affect the systemic health of the broilers.
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