Mislav Đidara

Stimulation by levamisole of cell-mediated immunity in weaned pigs

Abstract Commercial crossbred pigs weaned at four weeks were allocated into three equal groups. The experimental group 1 was primed intramuscularly, and the experimental group 2 was primed per os, with levamisole at an immunostimulatory dose of 2.5mg/kg once daily, for three consecutive days, and controls received saline. Venous blood samples from all pigs were collected after the last levamisole or saline dose was given (day 0), and 35 days later (day 35) for flow cytometry analysis. The results obtained by immunophenotyping of isolated circulating lymphocytes on day 35 indicate that priming by levamisole of weaned pigs selectively recruited CD4+, CD8+ and CD4+CD8+, but not CD21+ cells in the systemic circulation.

Estimation of red deer (Cervus elaphus) post mortal interval based on the biochemical parameters of vitreous fluid using linear regression analyses

Vitreous fluid is a stable biological fluid, which is well-protected from contamination and post mortem degradation, which makes it suitable in forensic pathology for determination of the post mortem interval (PMI). The present study was conducted to discover the correlation between increasing PMI and levels of various vitreous biochemical parameters (sodium, calcium, magnesium, chloride, potassium, phosphor, AST, urea, creatinine, total protein, glucose, total cholesterol). The estimation of PMI in red deer is of great interest in cases of illegal hunting. The vitreous humour samples were collected from six red deer carcasses. The eyes were enucleated, covered by parafilm and aluminium foil, packed in a small container and maintained at +4 oC. Sampling of vitreous fluid was done again at 8, 10 and then regularly each 10 hours until finally 90 hours after death. A significant linear correlation was found for potassium, sodium and chloride (P<0.0001). The present study revealed that biochemical analysis of vitreous fluid could be used to determine post mortem interval in red deer

The influence of sex and gonadectomy on hepatic and brain fatty acid composition, lipogenesis and β-oxidation.

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of sex and castration of rats on liver and brain fatty acid profile and liver mRNA expression of genes involved in lipogenesis and β-oxidation. Castration significantly increased body weight and liver index and decreased serum triglyceride content in the female rats. The fatty acid composition of the liver tissue was influenced by sex and castration. Male rats had higher content of C16:0, C18:1n7, C18:2n6 and C22:5n3, while female rats had higher content of C18:0, C20:4n6 and C22:6n3. Castration of male rats decreased differences caused by sex for C18:2n6, C20:4n6 and C22:6n3. Values for C16:1n7 were higher in the castrated male rats in comparison with all other groups. Liver phospholipids showed a distribution of fatty acids similar to the total lipids. Brain total lipids and phospholipids were not influenced by sex or castration. Castration increased ∆6D gene expression in both the sexes, while ∆5D and ∆9D increased in females and males respectively. Gonadectomy increased expression of the FASN gene in the females and decreased CPT1 and ACOX1 gene expression in the liver tissue of male rats. The observed results of lipid peroxidation, measured by TBARS, were the lowest in the intact females in comparison with all other groups. In conclusion, sex strongly influences both SFA and PUFA in liver tissue, and castration decreases these differences only for PUFA. Castration also influences the expression of the genes involved in lipid metabolism differently in male and female rats, with an increase in lipogenic genes in female rats and a decrease in key genes for mitochondrial and peroxisomal β-oxidation in male rats.

The effects of differently prepared natural zeolite clinoptilolite on weaned piglets

Zeolites are crystalline hydrated aluminosilicates of alkali and alkaline earth cations, consisting of three-dimensional frameworks of SiO4 and AlO4 tetrahedra linked through the shared oxygen atoms to form an open crystal lattice with approximately uniform pores of molecular dimensions. The dietary use of naturally occurring or synthetic zeolites has been reported to improve feed efficiency, thus leading to a beneficial growth response in pigs. Three groups of weaned piglets (N=60), crossbreed (LWxSL)x Pietrein, the same sex proportions, aged 28 to 70 days were involved in the trial. Tribomechanically activated zeolite clinoptilolite (0.2% was added to the first experimental group, modified clinoptilolite was added to the second experimental group in the same concentration. Piglets in all groups were of similar body weights during both experimental periods. Plasma glucose, urea, total protein, sodium, potassium, chloride concentration were changed with the diet added modified clinoptilolite.