No abstract

It is known that the typical for animals of different species the nature of the serrations of the free edges of the scales of the hair cuticle, the density of their location and proximity to each other can determine the species of animal hair samples. The aim of the study was to establish the value of the cuticular index in clinically healthy domestic cats and dogs. The area of the outer surface of the scales of the hair cuticle, or cuticular index, was determined in 20 clinically healthy domestic cats and 18 dogs. Examination of the cuticle was performed using prints on a colorless lacquer, which was applied to a glass slide, pressing the hair to the paint layer. The imprint was examined under a microscope (enlargement ×400) and the cuticular index value was established in the root zone, in the thickest part of the hair shaft, expressed in μM2. It was found that in domestic cats and dogs without clinical signs of any pathology, the values of the cuticular index are in the range of 80-170 and 100-210 μM2accordingly. The value of the cuticular index in domestic cats 60-70 μM2 and in dogs 60-90 μM2in 100 % accidents does not meet in healthy animals. The obtained results can be used as a control during diagnostic activities for numerous variants of internal pathology of domestic cats and dogs, as additional diagnostic tests.

The results of a complex study of the effect of Cynoglossum officinale on the organism of horses were presented in the article. The research was conducted in the period from 2014 to 2017 at the Derkulsky stud farm in Lugansk region. It has been established that poisoning by Cynoglossum officinale causes a violation of the hepatotoxic biliary system and the development of cirrhosis in horses. A set of biochemical parameters of blood serum that may be markers of dystrophic processes in liver tissues was determined. The most informative indicators for diagnosis of cirrhosis of the liver in horses are indicators that characterize the state of the connective tissue, namely the content of glycosaminoglycans and their fractions. There was a tendency to increase the number of general GAGs in the horses which died, compared to the control group. In animals that survived, this indicator increased significantly (p≤0.05) compared to the control, indicating the development of fibrous changes in the tissues of parenchymal organs. After analysis of the level of separate GAGs fractions, it was determined that level I of GAGs fraction in all groups was higher than the reference norm, indicating a metabolic abnormality of GAGs of the connective tissue, in particular chondroitin-6-sulfate, especially in animals that survived after poisoning (p≤0.05). Level II of GAGs fraction for most of the horses which died after Cynoglossum officinale poisoning was also higher than the norm: 3.12 ± 0.49 un., and in the horses that survived this figure was 2.67 ± 0,23 un. Consequently, after Cynoglossum officinale poisoning the formation of cholesterol-4 and dermatan sulfates increased that is usually observed in the degenerative processes in the liver and is accompanied with the growth of the connective tissue. Level III of GAGs fraction, the major part of which is heparan and keratan sulfates, increased by 2.6 times (p≤0.05) in case of death of animals after Cynoglossum officinale poisoning and by 2.4 times (p≤0.05) in the horses that survived. It is possible that depolymerization of heparan sulfate occurs in the stromal elements of the liver and of other internal organs which is replaced by chondroitin-4-sulfates as a result of poisoning of the animals by Cynoglossum officinale while Ito cells are transforming into myofibroblasts. These data are confirmed by morphological studies of the liver, which are manifested by dystrophic changes, on the background of cell cytology, hepatodepressive syndrome and an increase in the volume of connective tissue which leads to the death of most of the horses and to the development of chronic pathological process in animals that survive.