Several haematological parameters in Herzegovinian donkeys based on gender and age were analysed in this study. The study included 30 clinically healthy donkeys (12 males and 18 females), between one and twenty years of age. Donkeys were grouped in three age classes: young (1-2 years, n=10), adult (3-6 years, n=12) and old donkeys (7-20 years, n=8). A total of seven haematological parameters were analysed. In both genders and in all age groups, the mean values of MCHC were slightly above the recommended reference intervals for donkeys in general. The mean values of HCT in females and in adult donkeys were lower than the reference intervals. The PLT mean values in female, and in young and old Herzegovinian donkeys were lower than the reference intervals. Gender significantly affected HCT and Hb values (p=0.049; p=0.046, respectively), which were significantly higher in males. Age significantly affected WBC and LYM count, which were lowest in young donkeys.

Introduction One of the important causes of male infertility is aberration at the chromosomes. Aim The main purpose of this study was to determine the frequency and types of chromosomal aberration in infertile/sterile men whose samples were analyzed in the Center for Cytogenetics of Faculty of Medicine University of Sarajevo in the last four years. Methods A total of 353 infertile/sterile men, between the ages of 22-55 years, referred for cytogenetic analysis to the Center for Genetics of Faculty of Medicine during the period 2013-2016. Karyotyping was performed on peripheral blood lymphocytes by using the Giemsa trypsin banding (GTG) technique. Results The structural and numerical chromosomal aberration in infertility/ sterility of men found with the incidence of 6% (20/353). Out of the 20 patients with abnormal cytogenetic diagnosis, structural chromosome abnormalities were observed in 17 (85%) patients and 3 (15%) with numerical aberrations. The type of aberrations mostly found were Robertsonian and reciprocal translocations (35%, 35%, respectively). Conclusions The incidence of chromosomal abnormalities in infertile/sterile males suggests that the cytogenetics analysis is an important in male infertility, especially if it will be used for the purpose of assisted reproduction techniques.

Abstract Adaptation mechanisms as response to water content, oxygen level and pollutants are very important and they can be interpreted by hematological analysis. The aim of this study was the analysis of hematological and immune adaptations of common carp (Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus, 1758) to thermal stress. All specimens were divided into a control and experimental group. The control group of fish was exposed to a constant water temperature of 10°C. We induced thermal stress in experimental fish by gradually heating water to 28°C, held for 30 minutes and then comparing the obtained results with the control fish. Short-term hyperthermia lead to an increase of the number of leukocytes, especially pseudoeosinophilic granulocytes and monocytes, while the number of neutrophils and lymphocytes was reduced. The analysis of the leukocyte number and differential blood count in the control group showed high individual variation of segmented granulocytes, monocytes and pseudoeosinophilic granulocytes. Statistically significant differences (p=0.00) were found for the white blood cells, nonsegmented neutrophils and pseudoeosinophils between the control and experimental group. The experimental group of males had an increased number of white blood cells, monocytes and pseudoeosinophils, where significant differences were found for nonsegmented and total neutrophils and also for pseudoeosinophils (p=0.00), lymphocytes (p=0.01) and monocytes (p=0.03). Females had an increased total number of white blood cells, lymphocytes, monocytes and pseudoeosinophils, while significant differences (p=0.00) were obtained in the number of white blood cells, nonsegmented and total neutrophils and pseudoeosinophils between the control and experimental group. Adaptation mechanisms in carp after water temperature heating are mostly reflected in the increase of pseudoeosinophils and the decrease of neutrophils.

Abstract Plant lectins are carbohydrate binding proteins or phytohaemagglutinins present in most plants, especially seeds and tubers, which include cereals, potatoes and beans. Lectins have great significance in the diet because of their involvement in gastrointestinal difficulties and erythrocyte agglutination. Blood agglutination activity against A, B, AB and O groups was shown after exposing blood to extracts obtained from 55% of tested plants, while in 45% of plants, agglutination was absent. The results of our study have shown that in humans, 40% of plant extracts exhibited activity against A, 40% of plant extracts exhibited activity against B, and 50% of plant extracts exhibited activity against AB and O groups in humans. The concentration of plant lectins depends on the part of the plant. Lectins from the seeds of certain plants cause the greatest percentage of erythrocyte agglutination, while the lowest agglutination was caused by plant bulbs and leaves. However, lectins derived from all plant species of the family Fabaceae agglutinated erythrocytes of all blood types to some extent.

The serum concentrations of hormones are widely used to diagnose thyroid and adrenocortical diseases in animals. The objectives of the present study were, for the first time, to determine serum thyroxine (T4) and cortisol values in Bosnian and Herzegovinian mountain horses, and to investigate the influences of age and gender on T4 and cortisol levels. Blood samples were collected on the stud farm Borike from 23 apparently healthy horses of both sexes aged between two and twenty-three years. Horses were grouped in three age classes: young mature horses, middle-aged horses and old horses. Serum samples were analyzed for T4 and cortisol concentrations. The T4 values ranged from 6 to 45 nmol/L with a mean ±SD of 22.83±8.32 nmol/L. The cortisol values ranged from 149 to 190 nmol/L with a mean ±SD of 171.57±11.46 nmol/L. Values of T4 decreased with increasing age (p=0.021). Mean value of T4 in young mature horses was 27.60 nm/L, in middle-aged horses was 19.40 nm/L and in old horses was 18.33 nm/L. Values of T4 were significantly higher (p=0.031) in females (24.88 nm/L) than in males (18.14 nm/L). Negative significant correlation between age and hormone concentration was observed for T4 (r = -0.431; p = 0.040). Differences between gender or age classes for cortisol values were not significant. The mean total serum T4 and cortisol values in Bosnian and Herzegovinian mountain horses were in the normal reference ranges for horses, and both age and gender significantly affected T4 levels.

Herzegovinian donkey is a very important animal resource of Bosnia and Herzegovina. There have been no works attempted at determining the normal values of hematological parameters of Herzegovinian donkey. For this reason, the objective of the present study was to investigate some hematological parameters in Herzegovinian donkey. The research was performed on 30 apparently healthy donkeys (18 female and 12 male) of ages from 1 to 20 years. Blood samples (3 ml) were obtained by jugular vein puncture (vena jugularis externa) in vacuum tubes with EDTA. The mean value of hematocrit was 29.19 %, hemoglobin concentration 10.6 g/dl, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration 36.33 g/dl, white blood cells 9.33 x109/L, granulocytes (109/L) 5.45 x109/L, granulocytes (%) 59.47%, lymphocyte/monocyte (109/L) 3.89 x109/L, lymphocyte/monocyte (%) 40.53% and platelet cells 148.97 x109/L. Parameters were determined using an automated analyzer IDEXX QBC VET AutoRead. Data were analyzed by SPSS V 15. All hematological parameters (except platelet cells) were consistent with the recommended reference ranges for donkeys, and the values found in literature so far. Platelet cells values were much lower than in the literature for the other donkey breeds and the recommended reference ranges for donkeys. The slight differences found between our results and those reported in the previous works confirm the need for further studies to investigate the reference values of hematological parameters of Herzegovinian donkey. This work is a contribution to the study of hematological parameters of Herzegovinian donkey, and we expect these data to be applied to the further studies.

In the present study, for the first time we investigated the genetic diversity among horse breeds from Bosnia and Herzegovina: potential Bosnian and Herzegovinian mountain horse, Arabian horse, Thoroughbred horse and crossbreeds, with special emphasis on the gene pool of potential Bosnian and Herzegovinian mountain horse. In total, 138 animals were genotyped for 17 microsatellite loci. Compared to the other breeds, potential Bosnian and Herzegovinian mountain horse showed quite a high genetic variability. The mean number of alleles was 14.1765. The average observed heterozygosity was 0.6589 and the expected heterozygosity was 0.8451. The mean value of polymorphic information content was 0.8286. The results of AMOVA test showed 8,44% of genetic variation among populations. The highest genetic variation within population was showed by potential Bosnian and Herzegovinian mountain horse (27.13). The same breed showed the highest individual variation (17.35). Overall FST value showed high level of the genetic differentiation among breeds (8.87 %), and the pairwise FST values were all significant. Highest inter-group genetic differentiation was observed among Arabian horse and Thoroughbred horse (groups of pure breeds) and potential Bosnian and Herzegovinian mountain horse. The results show that the potential Bosnian and Herzegovinian mountain horse has a high in-breed variability, more than could be expected. In the gene pool of potential Bosnian and Herzegovinian mountain horse, a part of the gene pool of other breeds is present. Also, these results show that there are very good preconditions for the revitalization of the gene pool of potential Bosnian and Herzegovinian mountain horse. Keywords: Horse, genetic diversity, microsatellites

Ionising radiation is known to cause chromosomal instability, which is observed as increased frequency of chromosomal aberration and micronuclei. These are listed as reliable criteria in biological dosimetry. Numerous experiments conducted on both animal and plant models demonstrated that increase in radiation dosage is followed by increased mutation frequency, and that mutations occur even at the lowest exposure. We used horse blood in vitro irradiated by low doses of ionizing radiation. Cultivation of peripheral blood lymphocytes and micronucleus test were used as biomarkers of genetic damage. The observed aberrations were recorded and classified in accordance with the International System of Cytogenetic Nomenclature. Micronuclei were identified on the basis of criteria proposed by Fenech et al . (8). Analysis of chromosomal aberration showed increased frequency of aberrations in blood cultures exposed to 0,1 Gy and 0,2 Gy compared to the controls. Microscopic analysis of chromosomal damage in in vitro micronucleus test revealed that the applied radiation dose induced micronuclei while no binucleated cells with micronuclei were found in lymphocytes that were not irradiated. In this paper we analysed the influence of low dose ionising radiation on frequency of chromosomal aberration and micronuclei in horse lymphocytes following in vitro exposure to X-rays (0,1 Gy and 0,2 Gy). Key words : chromosomal aberrations, micronuclei, ionising radiation, horse lymphocytes

Busa is an old endangered autochthonous breed of the western Balkan, especially Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo and Albania. A related breed is Gatacko, derived from Busa × Tirolean Grey crossbreds. Fifteen purebred Busa cattle and thirteen Gatacko animals were genotyped for polymorphisms at the kappa-casein gene by a Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) essay. The alleles A, B and C were found and the allelic frequencies were 0.46 (A), 0.46 (B) and 0.08 (C) in Busa cattle and 0.58 (A) and 0.42 (B) in Gatacko. Only AA, AB, BB and BC genotypes occurred. Further alleles were not detected and are therefore either absent in both populations or rare. The allele »B« found in this small population will be useful for a sire selection program in the future.

In this study we investigated the influence of low dosage X - ray irradiation on the incidence of chromosomal damage and changes in mitotic index (MI) in cultured peripheral lymphocytes of the Bosnian and Herzegovinian mountain horse following in vitro irradiation. X-ray irradiation induced a dose-dependent decrease in MI but only the dose of 0.5 Gy induced a significant decrease (p<0.05) in comparison with the control and other dose groups. The analysis of chromosomal damage revealed a clear dose-dependent increase in the incidence of chromosomal damage per metaphase. Significant differences (p<0.05) were detected by analysis of variance and the LSD test confirmed significant differences between cells that received 0.2 Gy and 0.5 Gy when compared to the control cells and cells that received 0.1 Gy. However, Scheeffes' test assigned significance only to the differences established between the cells that received 0.5 Gy and the other groups of lymphocytes. .

Knowledge of spontaneous aberrations, namely, of their frequency in non-irradiated cells is of paramount importance not only in cytogenetic research, but also in contemporary animal production. The paper deals with research on spontaneously emerged chromosomal aberrations in the peripheral blood lymphocytes in the cattle of 'Busa' breed. To obtain metaphase chromosomes the conventional method of lymphocyte cultivation was used, albeit slightly modified and adapted to the examined animals and the laboratory conditions. The research findings indicate that a certain percent of spontaneously emerged chromosomal aberrations of chromatid type (gap and break) have been found in the peripheral blood lymphocytes in the cattle of 'Busa' breed.

Within a comprehensive study conducted on the Bosnian- Herzegovinia mountain horse breed, a research on the relative frequency of micronuclei (MN) after in vitro horse blood irradiation was carried out. Experiments on cytogenetic dosimetry were also conducted on pigs. The results of MN test were presented in terms of MN in binucleate (BN) cells. In control samples the percent of MN is very low in relation to irradiated samples where a higher number of MN cells was asserted, as well as a higher number of MN in BN cells. We could also observe that a number of BN cells with MN is proportionally increased with the radiation dosage. The MN test could provide additional data on the level of radiation damage (depletion) in the lymphocytes of the peripheral blood in domestic animals.