The lack of anthelmintic products licensed for donkeys and the rising number of small donkey milk farms in the countries of Western Europe and Italy have led to an increased interest in the study of reliable and safe plant-derived treatment alternatives. In this study, the aqueous extracts of Achillea millefolium L. (flowers), Artemisia absinthium L. (aerial parts), Centaurium erythraea Rafn. (flowers), Gentiana asclepiadea L. (rhizomes and roots), Inula helenium L. (rhizomes and roots) and Tanacetum vulgare L. (aerial parts), have been tested in vitro for their potential ovicidal and larvicidal activity against donkey nematodes. An egg-hatching assay (EHA) and larval development assay (LDA) were performed for the in vitro study, and median lethal concentration (LC-50) values for both EHA and LDA were calculated using probit analysis. All tested plant extracts showed strong anthelmintic activity against strongyle eggs and larvae at concentrations ranging between 125 and 1.95 mg/ml, except for C. erythraea, which exhibited very little or no effect at all at the tested concentrations. A strong ovicidal effect was observed in A. absinthium, with an LC-50 value of 0.486 mg/ml (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.21–1.09). Gentiana asclepiadea showed high efficacy against strongyle larvae, with an LC-50 value of 0.041 mg/ml (95% CI 0.01–0.16). The most significant (P < 0.01) anthelmintic activity was exhibited by I. helenium, with an LC-50 value of 0.041 mg/ml (95% CI 0.01–0.16) for EHA and 0.41 mg/ml (95% CI 0.27–0.62) for LDA. The results proved the anthelmintic efficacy of the tested plant extracts, highlighting the need for further research into plant bioactive molecules both in vitro and in vivo.

The aim of the study was to assess the effect of a probiotic product based on Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus licheniformis and Pediococcus acidilactici on hematological parameters for dogs with apparent intestinal dysbiosis. Also, a comparison between the results obtained before and after the treatment was made, in order to establish if the probiotic treatment is able to improve the hematological results for dogs with apparent dysbiosis. A total number of 5 dogs, aged between 7 months and 6 years old were clinically evaluated for gastro-intestinal problems that lead to the suspicion of apparent intestinal dysbiosis. The probiotic administration respected the producer recommendations and it was given to the dogs together with their usual food, one capsule/day, 30 days consecutively. On the first and 31 days of the study, blood samples were collected and hematological parameters were evaluated. A heterogeneity in the hematological results was observed. However, when results from day 0 were compared with results obtained in day 31, the variance was considered to be physiological. Also, the small diferences between the values before and after the treatment can not be attributed only to the probiotic treatment. The results obtained regarding the dynamics of the hematological parameters provided data that sustain the benefic effect of this probiotic combination, without a direct impact on hematological parameters.

At the level of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract exists a consortium of living microorganisms like bacteria, fungi, protozoa and viruses, which represent the intestinal microbiota. This term, microbiota, comes from Greek, where ‘bios’ means ‘life’ and nowadays this is the right word to use, even if in the older literature the authors used the term microflora with the same meaning (Suchodolski, 2016). In order to describe the intestinal microbiota, there are more methods available, each of them having advantages and disadvantages. The aim of this literature study was to compare the data available regarding each method used for assessing the intestinal microbiota. Among the five methods available in the present to assess the intestinal microbiota, none of them is considered a gold standard. There are available cultural and non-cultural methods, each of them having the purpose to describe the intestinal resident bacterial populations. The most commonly used methods for characterization of the intestinal microbiota are represented by FISH- Fluorescence in situ hybridization, qPCR- quantitative real-time PCR, NGS- next-generation sequencing (e.g. 454- pyrosequencing, Illumine) and Metagenomics (shotgun sequencing of genomic DNA). In this review we made a comparison between the methods available for assessing the intestinal microbiota, showing that in the present there is not a golden standard for this and that the methods used have advantages and disadvantages.

Hepatocytes represent the majority of the liver cell population and are arranged in the form of cords placed in intimate contact with the sinusoidal capillaries. The functional complexity corroborated with the intensity of the activity of hepatocytes requires large amounts of energy. The organelles involved in the production of chemical energy used in the activity of hepatocytes are the mitochondria. The purpose of this study was to verify the mitochondrial load of hepatocytes in all areas of the classical hepatic lobules, in order to indirectly assess the intensity of hepatocyte activity in each area. Materials and Methods Five fresh corpses of chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera) from an independent breeder from Bistrița-Năsăud county were used. Liver fragments were harvested and fixated in Kolster’s solution for 24 hours, stained with Heidenhain ferric hematoxylin, and assessed using Olympus BX41 microscope. Fixation with Kolster's solution and the staining with Heidenhain's iron hematoxylin clearly shows the hepatocytic mitochondria in shades from gray to black. The liver lobules displayed an uneven distribution of mitochondria depending on the area. In zone 1 of the classical hepatic lobule, the degree of loading of hepatocytes with mitochondria is larger than in zone 2 and much larger than in zone 3. Morphological features of the hepatocytes, including the number and distribution of mitochondria in the hepatic lobules, should improve the understanding of the physiology and pathology of the liver.

The vertebrate gut has been continuously populated with complex and dynamic microbial and eukaryotic communities, that over millions of years have coevolved both spatially and temporally (Kreisinger et al., 2015). Due to the prolonged coexistence, intestinal parasites (protozoa and helminths) and resident microbiota have developed the ability to influence one another by several mechanisms: 1) produce changes at the level of intestinal mucus and epithelial barrier, 2) alter the host immune response or 3) direct interaction (Leung et al., 2018). The uncontrolled use of anthelmintics can lead to the elimination of commensal organisms and alteration of host immunity and intestinal microbial community composition. Thus, the aim of this research is to highlight the complexity of interactions between intestinal bacteria and parasites and their importance for the host. The “parasitome”- microbiota relationship is a complex phenomenon that plays an essential role in host intestinal homeostasis, the absence or alteration of either of these organisms being able to cause a severe disruption of host immune system (Leung et al., 2018). Is therefore essential to acquire a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms of interaction between these two communities.