Investigate the changes that occur in the placenta tissues of pregnant rats that were administered acrylamide (AA) and vitamin E as a protective agent during pregnancy. Thirty rats that were proven positive for pregnancy with vaginal smear test were randomly distributed into control, corn oil, vitamin E, acrylamide and vitamin E + acrylamide groups. Pregnant rats were decapitated on the 20th day of the experiment. Malondialdehyde (MDA), reduced glutathione (GSH), total antioxidant capacity (TAS), total oxidant capacity (TOS) and Xanthine oxidase (XO) levels were measured in placenta tissues. It was determined that acrylamide application during pregnancy statistically significantly increased MDA, TOS and XO levels and reduced GSH and TAS levels in the placenta tissue of pregnant rats when compared to all other groups, and GAS and TAS levels statistically significantly increased in vitamin E administered group when compared to all other groups and TOS and XO levels were decreased to control group levels. It was observed that orally administered AA changed the antioxidant / oxidant equilibrium favoring the oxidants by increasing MDA, XO and TOS levels in pregnant rats and caused oxidative stress, while vitamin E administration returned the antioxidant / oxidant equilibrium back to normal levels, preventing oxidative stress induced toxicity.

Dornelor Basin is characterised by numerous high quality water sources, which is proven by the fact that the main mineral waters on the Romanian market come from this area. The study aimed to provide data on the occurrence and human infective potential of Giardia and Cryptosporidium, as the most important water-borne parasites, from Bistrița river tributaries of Dornelor basin, North-Eastern Romania. Water samples were collected from 10 tributaries of the Bistrita river, from the level of sampling stations set upstream and downstream from the anthropic communities. The harvested water samples were further processed using nonmolecular methods in order to isolate (oo)cysts. Subsequently, the isolated Cryptosporidium and Giardia (oo)ccyst were molecularly characterized through PCR and genomic sequencing, which led to the identification of Giardia in order to identify them at species level. The outcomes revealed the fact that the waters of the emissaries under study have a low parasite load and that, upstream from the human settlements, the water is highly pure when related to the protozoa under study. The increased load of Giardia spp. and Cryptosporidium spp.