The effect of supplementation of clove and agrimony or clove and lemon balm on growth performance, antioxidant status and selected indices of lipid profile of broiler chickens.

The study investigated the effects of diet supplementation with 1% clove flower buds powder combined with either 0.2% lemon balm extract or 0.2% agrimony extract (each of the two pulverized extracts supplied through drinking water) on body weight of broilers, total feed intake, feed conversion ratio and the carcass yield, activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD, EC 1.15.1.1) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px, EC 1.11.1.9) in blood, concentration of sulfhydryl (-SH) groups, malondialdehyde (MDA), vitamin A and E, low-density lipoproteins in the blood plasma, serum cholesterol, total lipids, triglycerides and high-density lipoproteins in broiler chickens at 42 days of age. On the day of hatching, 120 male and female broilers of Cobb 500 were randomly divided into three groups. The control group (1st group) of broilers received a basal diet (BD) without any feed and water additive. Both experimental groups of chicks were fed BD enriched with clove (Syzygium aromaticum L.) powder at a dose of 10 g/kg DM for 42 days. Moreover, either lemon balm (Mellisa officinalis L.) extract or agrimony (Agrimonia eupatoria L.) extract diluted with drinking water (2:1000) was given to broilers in the 2nd and 3rd group respectively. The results indicated that feeding the diets enriched with selected herbal supplements failed to affect the growth performance of broiler chickens at 42 days of age. In addition, this supplementation had no influence on the activities of SOD and GSH-Px, concentration of vitamin A and selected lipid metabolism indices. On the other hand, we observed beneficial effects on some indices of the antioxidant status (increased concentration of -SH groups and vitamin E, decreased concentration of MDA) in the blood of broilers in both experimental groups in comparison with the control group of chickens (p < 0.05). Furthermore, a slightly better antioxidant capacity was found in the blood of broilers supplied the combination of clove and lemon balm compared to clove and agrimony (vitamin E, 11.26 ± 0.73 vs. 9.73 ± 0.64 µmol/L, p < 0.05 respectively). It could be concluded that supplementation of the diet with clove flower buds powder combined with lemon balm extract or agrimony extract dissolved in drinking water has a potential to increase the antioxidant status but fails to influence either the growth performance or the selected lipid metabolism indices of broilers at the age of 42 days.

The influence of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids feeding on composition of fatty acids in fatty tissues and eggs of laying hens.

The paper deals with supplementation of hen diet with oils with increased content of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and occurrence of fatty acids (FA) in fatty tissues and eggs of laying hens after the respective supplementation. The experiment was carried out on 30 laying hens of ISA BROWN hybrid, divided to three groups (A, B, C). For the period of three weeks the group A was administered flax-seed oil, group B served as a control and group C was fed base rations supplemented with fish oil. In addition to that the diet of groups A and C was supplemented with vitamin E as an antioxidant. Administration of the oils as a source of omega-3 PUFA increased their concentration in both the fatty tissues and egg-yolk which resulted in the change of the ratio of omega-6 and omega-3 PUFA. No influence of flax-seed and fish oil on concentration of alpha-tocopherol in egg-yolk was observed.

[Seasonal effect on serum levels of thyroid hormones in German shepherds and dachshunds and their health status]. / Sezónnost a jej vplyv na hladiny tyroidných hormonóv v krvnom sére nemeckých ovciakov, jazvecíkov a ich zdravotný stav.

A relatively frequent prevalence of dermatoses in summer has drawn our attention. Dermatoses of endocrine origin occur very often. We have noticed the deterioration of skin changes in animals with hypothyroidism. Bubeník et al. (1983), Webster et al. (1991), Reiter et al. (1988) reported that changes in concentrations of thyroid hormones were found in fallow-deer, sheep and hamsters due to the effect of temperature and season. Based upon this knowledge we have decided to observe the health status and function of the thyroid gland in two randomly selected groups of various size dogs--German shepherd and dachshund during four seasons. We observed following parameters: concentration of triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4), cholesterol (Chol) and total lipids (TL) in the blood serum, average temperatures in individual seasons. Blood was always withdrawn fasting in the morning from vena antebrachii. Concentrations of T3 and T4 were determined by the commercial kits RIA-test-T4 and RIA-test-T3 (Human-Lab, Kosice, Slovak Republic). The levels of cholesterol and total lipids were determined by the BIO-LA-tests (Lachema, Brno, Czech Republic). March, April, May were included into spring season; June, July, August into summer; September, October, November into autumn; and December, January, February into winter. The Slovak Hydrometeorologic Institute in Kosice provided the values of average temperatures in observed seasons. The average temperatures in individual seasons were the following: spring +9.8 degrees C, summer +18.4 degrees C, autumn +8.5 degrees C, winter -1.2 degrees C. During the observed period concentrations of cholesterol and total lipids ranged within the reference values in both breeds.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)