Coccidiosis represents a serious threat to the poultry industry, affecting production and causing high morbidity, mortality and significant costs resulting from treatment and prophylaxis. In-feed anticoccidials have been used for decades for managing avian coccidiosis and were very effective until drug resistance emerged. The use of natural remedies has become a promising alternative in combating coccidiosis in chickens. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to assess the efficiency of a commercial herbal formula (H), as oral liquid preparations, in experimental chicken coccidiosis. Two independent controlled battery experiments (BE1 and BE2) were designed and the product was tested in 3 different formulas (H1, H2 and H3): H1 contained a propylene glycol extract of Allium sativum and Thymus serpyllum; H2 contained Origanum vulgare, Satureja hortensis and Chelidonium majus; and H3 contained Allium sativum, Urtica dioica, Inula helenium, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Rosmarinus officinalis, Chelidonium majus, Thymus serpyllum, Tanacetum vulgare and Coriandrum sativum. Chickens were divided into five groups for each BE as follows: (i) uninfected untreated control (UU1, UU2); (ii) infected untreated control (IU1, IU2); (iii) infected treated with amprolium (ITA1, ITA2); and (iv, v) two experimental groups infected treated with H1 (ITH1) and H2 (ITH2) formulas in the BE1 and with H3 (ITH3-5 and ITH3-10) formula in the BE2. The chickens from infected groups were challenged with 5000 (BE1) and 50,000 (BE2) sporulated oocysts of Eimeria spp. (E. acervulina, E. tenella and E. maxima), respectively. The anticoccidial efficacy was assessed by recording the following: oocysts output (OPG), lesion score (LS), weight gain (WG), feed conversion ratio (FCR) and anticoccidial index (ACI). Additionally, polyphenolics and flavonoids (caffeic-chlorogenic acid, apigenin, kaempferol, luteolin, quercitin, quercitrin) from herb extracts found in H3 formula were determined by the liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method. H1 and H2 reduced the WG, and increased the FCR and OPG compared with controls. H1 reduced the duodenal lesions, whilst H2 reduced the caecal lesions, compared with control. H3 decreased the OPG of Eimeria spp., reduced the total lesion score and improved the zootechnical performance (weight gain and feed conversion ratio). According to ACI value, H1 and H2 had no efficacy on Eimeria spp. infection, but H3 had good to marked anticoccidial effect, the ACI being slightly greater in the group ITH3-5. According to the results of LC-MS/MS, the concentration of polyphenols in H3 formula was the highest, the sum of chlorogenic acid and caffeic acid being 914.9 µg/ml. H3 formula is a promising natural anticoccidial and field trials are recommended in order to validate the obtained data.

In this study, we analyzed extracts of Ribes (black currant, red currant and gooseberry) fruits obtained with methanol, methanol 50% and water. For each extract total polyphenol content, total flav...

Metabolite profile, antioxidant and antinociceptive activities of Syringa vulgaris bark and leaf methanolic extracts were investigated. By means of HPLC-DAD-ESI-TOF and HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS/MS, a total of 33 phenolics were identified, including 15 secoiridoids, 6 phenylpropanoids, 3 flavonoids, 3 lignans and 6 low molecular weight phenols. Validated quantitative analysis show that syringin (2.52%) and rutin (1.13%) are the main phenolic compounds in bark and leaf, respectively. Notable radical scavenging and antinociceptive activities of the bark and leaf extracts were confirmed by in vitro DPPH^● and ABTS^●+ assays and by in vivo hot-plate method in mice, respectively. Our results could lay the scientific basic of future clinical perspectives of lilac bark and leaf.

The aim of this study is to confirm the formation of inclusion complexes between bifonazole (BFZ) and different cyclodextrin (CD) derivatives. Bifonazole, an imidazole antifungal derivative,is a very hydrophobic compound, which is a major drawback in obtaining topical pharmaceutical formulations with optimal bioavailability. Cyclodextrins may increase local drug delivery by enhancing the drug release and/or permeation. The binary systems between bifonazole and cyclodextrins were prepared in two molar ratios by physical-mixture methods.The physicochemical properties of these complexes were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) methods. Results showed favourable molecular interaction between the components, in solid state and in solution. 1H NMR -CD titrations and molecular modelling study showed that the most stable complex was obtained when using γ-CD. The Job’s method and 2D NMR spectroscopy sustain the 2:1 stoichiometry of the BFZ:γ-CD complex.

Baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae-Sz1) enriched in chromium, iron, selenium or zinc was prepared by shaken cultivation and laboratory fermentation. Determination of the cellular distribution of microelements indicated that a considerable portion (68-88%) was bound to the cell constituents, a very little part was solved only in the cytosol and vacuole. More than half of the original vitamins B content has been lost during the general guarantee time (12 months) and the microelements had only little influence on it. Enrichment of yeast cells with iron was accompanied by considerable increase in vitamin B2\u