Influence of probiotic and yeast culture supplementation on selected biochemical and immunological parameters of growing lambs.

This study was carried out to evaluate the potential effects of 90 days-long dietary supple- mentation of probiotic and yeast culture on immunity condition of lambs. Fifteen Rahmani growing male lambs (about 5 months old and 23.21±2.75 kg body weight) were randomly allo- cated to three equal groups consisting of 5 animals each. The animals in the first group, served as a control (group C), were fed a basal diet without any supplementation. The lambs in the second and third group were fed the basal diet supplemented with probiotic (group Y) or yeast culture (group YC), respectively. The probiotic consisted of live yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisae) alone, while the yeast culture was composed of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the media on which it was grown. In group Y and YC, each lamb was supplemented daily with 0.5 g and 7.0 g of live yeast and yeast culture, respectively. Blood samples were collected before feeding the supplements and then every 15 days until the day 90th. Total and differential leucocytic counts, total protein, albumin, IgA, IgG and IgM levels were measured in blood. There were insignificant (p>0.05) variations in the levels of total and differential leucocytic counts and total protein among the groups throughout the experiment. However, significant differences (p⟨0.05) were found in globulin, IgA, IgG and IgM in both (Y) and (YC) groups, but the effect of yeast culture seems to be better than that of the probiotic. In conclusions, the obtained results indicate that the tested probiotic and yeast culture improve the immunological status of lambs.

Comparison of the structural properties of isomorphously substituted Fe in mordenite zeolites prepared by different methods.

Fe was introduced in mordenite zeolite by means of ion exchange either in solid or in liquid state. The iron loading (50--200 wt%), iron precursor (FeSO4.7H2O and FeCl3), and mordenite starting material (NH4M, HM, and NaM) were varied during the exchange processes. The Fe species were characterized by N2 adsorption measurements as well as by XRD and Mössbauer spectroscopies. The Fe-mordenite samples prepared by liquid-state ion exchange attained remarkable Fe dispersion and surface areas higher than those of the parent. It was found that Fe3+ ions, which substituted the framework Al and accordingly occupied tetrahedral sites, were decreased with Fe loadings with concomitant increase in Fe3+-occupied octahedral sites. The latter sites disappeared at 20 K to provoke the superparamagnetic alpha-Fe2O3 in different particles size. The acid leaching (0.1 M HCl, 333 K, 3 h) of the samples showed the disappearance of the most highly distorted extra-framework Fe3+ species, providing an indication of their presence on the external surface. On the other hand, a hematite phase was detected in the solid-state ion exchange of FeCl3 with either HM or NH4M at the loading of 100% Fe. More correlations between Mössbauer data on one hand and XRD and texturing properties on the other hand were evaluated and discussed.