Nowadays excessively used corticosteroids in veterinary medicine induce steroid hepatopathy in dogs (Canis lupus familiaris). The objective of this study was to determine the possibility of the hepatoprotectants to decrease the corticosteroid-induced alteration in such dogs’ blood serum enzymes as alaninaminotransferase (ALAT), gammaglutamyltranferase (GGT), alkaline phosphatase (AP) and corticosteroid-induced thermostable alkaline phosphatase (cAP). The study took place in private veterinary clinics in Riga, Latvia, during 2013, with the permission of dogs’ owners. Twenty eight animals, which received corticosteroids due to present diagnosis, were divided into two groups. In the first group long-lasting corticosteroid methylprednisolone acetate injection was used once, while in the second group the hepatoprotectants were used after the injection of corticosteroids. It was discovered that after 14 and after 30 days of hepatoprotectants use, blood enzymes were significantly lower (p is less than 0.05) than in dogs that did not receive hepatoprotectants. In both groups the enzyme values did not reach the reference limits. The study is set to investigate further if and when the values reach the reference limits.

Parafasciolopsosis is a parasitological disease which is caused by the liver fluke Parafasciolopsis fasciolaemorpha. This parasite which belongs to herbivores often causes invasion in elks (Alces alces). The aim of our study was to diagnose the parasite and investigate what kind of histopathological changes it caused in the liver tissue. The study took place in Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Laboratory of Comparative Pathology and Laboratory of Parasitology. During the study from 2017 to 2018 we collected liver samples and faeces from 46 felled elks of different age and gender, from all over Latvia. Ten grams of faeces were examined for trematode eggs by sedimentation method and a section of liver was examined for the presence of flukes and the histological structure of the liver. In this study Parafasciolopsis fasciolaemorpha were found in 11 samples of liver from 46 elks, with invasion extensity of 24%. The histopathological examination of the liver samples revealed fibrosis, proliferation of bile ducts, pericholangitis, calcerous deposits in bile ducts and other notable histological changes in the liver tissue that can cause hepatic trematodes.

Accumulation of skatole levels in porcine fat tissue is a major reason for boar taint, an objectionable odour in meat from entire male pigs. In contrast to males, female pigs do not accumulate skatole in increased amounts. Hepatic metabolism is critical for the regulation of skatole. Cytochromes P4502E1 (CYP2E1) and P4502A6 (CYP2A6) are key enzymes involved in skatole metabolism. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of gender and hCG stimulation on the activities of CYP2A6. Liver samples were taken at slaughter and analyzed for skatole concentrations, and for activities of CYP2E1 and CYP2A6. It was found that female pigs expressed higher CYP2E1 activity whereas activity of CYP2A6 did not differ between sexes. Skatole levels in the liver were higher in male pigs than in female pigs. Neither skatole levels nor enzyme activities were affected by hCG stimulation. It was concluded that the incidence of boar taint may depend on both the amount of skatole reaching the liver, and the activities of enzymes involved in skatole metabolism.