The present study was undertaken to investigate an effect of various concentrations of Spirulina maxima extract (SME) in BIOXcell V R extender on Simmental bulls spermatozoa quality. Semen was collected from 20 healthy bulls using an artificial vagina. Semen was evaluated in terms of concentration, motility, viability and morphology. Samples that showed more than 70% motility, 60% viability and 70% morphologically accepted spermatozoa were selected for the experiment. SME at the concentrations of 2, 4, 6 and 8 mg/mL was added to bovine commercial BIOXcell V R extender. The semen aliquots were cooled and preserved at 4 C. Their qualities were evaluated during pre-freezing, then the cooled semen samples were packaged into 0.25 ml straws. The straws were frozen in the vapour of liquid nitrogen, and stored at À196 C in container. The straws were thawed one day later and the characteristics of spermatozoa were examined. Results showed significant effect of SME on characteristics such as viability, Reactive Oxygen Species synthesis, DNA fragmentation and motility of spermatozoa in post freezing conditions (p < 0.05) and revealed that supplementation of SME extender improved the post-thaw spermatozoa quality in bulls. HIGHLIGHTS Spirulina maxima extract has antioxidant effect on bovine sperm cells The addition of Spirulina maxima extract improves the quality of bovine semen The extender supplemented with 4 mg/mL Spirulina maxima extract improves the motility, viability and DNA integrity of the bovine spermatozoa ARTICLE HISTORY

The purpose of this review was to analyze factors affecting the popularity of artificial insemination of mares in Europe in the context of sperm quality. Taking into account the prices of stallion semen on the world market, efficiency is important for the profitability of its use in artificial insemination programs in Europe. To increase the efficiency of a semen insemination facility, it is necessary to correctly and objectively assess the quality of semen. The available range of tools allows an effective evaluation of the potential fertility of a stallion. For several years, artificial insemination programs in Europe have been gaining popularity. However, the frequency of chilled or frozen semen use is still quite low. This is mainly due to the common, negative opinion about the effectiveness of the use of packaged insemination doses as opposed to natural insemination. Unfortunately, the quality of the semen offered often deviates from expectations, which results in unsatisfactory (and therefore unprofitable) pregnancy rates. This review presents the popularity structure of chilled and frozen semen use in European horse breeding as well as the current state of research on the effectiveness of semen production technology. It is shown that the popularity of using chilled semen in the artificial insemination of mares in Europe has been gradually increasing in the group of sport mares, while in the group of breeding mares, in recent years, frozen semen has been gaining popularity. In the remaining group of mares (not classified as sport or breeding), insemination with chilled semen has been dominant.

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The knowledge of the existing levels and the interrelationships between various blood and milk parameters is very useful for the analysis and monitoring of homeostasis high-yielding dairy cows. The aim of the study was to evaluate these values and correlations for selected blood markers of liver function aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), bilirubin, albumin, glucose, cholesterol) and selected milk parameters: somatic cell count (SCC), colony-forming units (CFU), fat, protein, lactose, dry matter (DM), fat-free dry matter (FDM), and milk production in cows during late lactation period. At the same time blood and milk samples were collected from 11 clinically healthy milking cows in later lactation period. The 11 selected cows were examined once a day for 3 days resulting in 33 sets of blood and milk samples for laboratory and statistical analysis. Significant positive correlations were observed between: ALT and albumin, ALT and cholesterol, GGT and glucose, albumin and cholesterol, CFU and fat, CFU and DM, SCC and protein, fat and DM, protein and FDM, lactose and FDM, GPT and FDM, albumin and protein, albumin and FDM, glucose and fat, as well as significant negative correlations between: AST and ALT, AST and GGT, AST and albumin, CFU and lactose, fat and lactose, fat and FDM, lactose and DM, DM and FDM, AST and SCC, AST and protein, AST and FDM, ALT and fat, ALT and DM, glucose and DM, cholesterol and CFU. The results obtained may be important for detecting of different biochemical pathways and helpful in estimating, predicting or determining trends, the direction of changes in liver functions and assessing the risk of alert levels for liver blood markers, when only daily results of milk parameters are available.

The aim of the study was to determine an influence of diet additives in a form of protected palm