Hematological and biochemical parameters and resistance of the organism of mother rabbits receiving sulfur compounds

Abstract

Nanotechnologies are developing continuously, and their use is becoming more diverse and concrete, with high potential to improve the products of animal husbandry and animals in general. Yet, there have been few studies of nanotechnologies in those spheres. However, to confirm the efficiency and, mainly, safety of nanotechnologies, to avoid any harm to the environment or especially humans and animals, substantiated studies are still needed. A promising, but barely studied, direction of research is dosage of nanocompounds of biogenic elements in diets of animals, both modern supplements and alternatives for correcting mineral nutrition. Therefore, the objectives of the study presented here were changes in hematologic, biochemical and immune-biological parameters of the organism of mother rabbits under the influence of sulfur citrate and sodium sulfate for 14 days until insemination and until day 20 of lactation. The research was conducted on mother rabbits of the Hyla breed which were giving birth for the second time in LLC Horlytsia in Dobriany village of Horodok district of Lviv Oblast. Mother rabbits of the control group were fed ad libitum with complete granulated mixed feed with free access to water. Animals of experimental group I were fed feeds of the diet of the control group and during the day were watered sulfate citrate in dosage of 8 µg of S/kg of body weight. Females of experimental group II were fed the diet feeds of the control group and given sodium sulfate (Na2SO4) in the amount of 40 mg of S/kg of body weight. The mother rabbits received the supplements for 14 days both until insemination and for up to the 20th day of lactation. In the preparation period, on day 10 after the beginning of the study and on day 20 of lactation in the experimental period (65th day of watering the supplements), blood samples were taken from the marginal ear vein of the mother rabbits for hematological and biochemical studies. The study revealed that watering sulfate citrate in the dosage of 8 µg of S/kg of the body weight in the diet of mother rabbits for 14 days until insemination and up to day 20 of lactation increased the amount of erythrocytes by 19.5%, leukocytes by 37.5%, granulocytes by 38.3%, concentration of hemoglobin by 21.0%, mean corpuscular hemoglobin by 15.6%, and red cell distribution width by 14.7%, and activated protein metabolism, which manifested in 8.5% higher content of protein and activity of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase respectively by 12.9%, 29.6%, 19.8% and 51.8% lower content of triacylglycerols in the blood on day 20 of lactation compared with the control group. Intake of sulfur citrate heightened the parameters of immunobiological reactivity of the organisms of mother rabbits on day 65 of the experiment with significantly higher level of phagocytic number, phagocytic activity, lysozymic and bactericidal activities of blood serum, protein-associated hexoses, sialic acids and ceruloplasmin and immune globulins, compared with the control. Giving mother rabbits sodium sulfate in the amount of 40 mg/kg of body weight for 65 days led to less notable changes in the blood, expressed in 20.0% increase in mean corpuscular hemoglobin, higher phagocytic value, phagocytic activity, lysozymic and bactericidal activities of blood serum, protein-associated hexoses and ceruloplasmin. The results of the studies indicate possibility of additional use of supplement sulfur citrate in the amount of 8 µg of S/kg in diet of mother rabbits to improve metabolism, reproductive ability and immunological resistance in the period of increased physiological load.