[Effect of UV-irradiated autologous blood on various morphological and biochemical blood indices and phagocytic activity of the leukocytes in cattle].

An experiment was carried out with six clinically normal cows under production conditions. The animals were kept and fed in the same conditions. Blood was sampled from the jugular vein, mixing it immediately with a 5 per cent sterile solution of sodium citrate at a 4:1 ratio. The amount of blood obtained in cu. cm was 0.5 times more than the number of kilograms with each individual animal. The exposure of the mixture to ultraviolet rays lasted 12 minutes. During irradiation it was stirred with a sterile glass rod, following which it was injected i/v. It was found that autohemotransfusion of blood treated in vitro with ultraviolet rays had a favourable effect on the morphologic composition of blood, leading to a rise of the erythrocyte and the leukocyte count. The level of serum calcium, inorganic phosphorus, magnesium, and vitamin D also rose. The same was true of the gamma-globulin fractions. Autohemotransfusion of irradiated blood stimulated also the phagocytic rhythm.