engleski

Effects of supplemental citrus lemon and Foeniculum vulgare essential oils and natural zeolite on morphometric characteristics of chicken blood cells

Housing conditions of farming animals often act as stressing factors decreasing the efficiency of animal production. Active components of many plants have evolved as antibacterial and antioxidant agents against environmental stress due to a variety of oxidizing and potential harmful free radicals. Adaptive mechanisms of cells to stres conditions lead to changes, increase and/or abnormalities of cells and nuclei, that can be quantified by morphometry. Morphometric parameters of erythrocytes, lymphocytes and monocytes were measured on the 21st and on the 42nd day in the control group, and in experimental group of chicken fattening with essential oils Aroma korm® and clinoptilolite as food additives. On the total of 36 blood smears area, outline, minimum and maximum radius, convexity, length and breadth of the whole cells and their nuclei as well as nucleo/cytoplasmic ratio were measured. Digital image analysis was performed using the SFORM software (VAMSTEC, Zagreb, Croatia). On the 21st day of fattening with essential oils as food additives almost all measured erythrocyte parameters were lower in comparison with the control group, while on the 42nd day values increased and exceeded the control values. Increased size and irregular shape of lymphocytes and their nuclei were seen in experimental group on the 21st day, but on the 42nd day all measured parameters were reduced in comparison to the values of control group. The size of monocytes did not change until the 42nd day, when they had significantly smaller outline and convexity. Established morphological changes of erythrocytes indicate, after the initial stress reaction, more intensive erythropoiesis in experimental chickens. Reduced size and convexity of lymphocytes and monocytes on the 42nd day in experimental groups of chickens were in the accordance with anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effects of fennel and lemon essential oils, as well as zeolite effectiveness in reducing total flora contamination on the intestine. Obtained results confirmed that morphometric analysis can provide valuable data for assessing blood cell adaptive responses and could complement conventional hematology.

phytobiotics ; morphometry ; hematology

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