Fig. 2

a. The percentage of phagocytising granulocytes in calf groups, as determined in the Phagotest® kit. Key: I – control group; II – experimental group; SD - standard deviation. Numerical results were presented as the arithmetic mean ± SD. The significance level was set at 0.05. Asterisks refer to statistically significant differences between the control group and the experimental group on the same sampling day at * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; A refers to statistically significant differences between day “0” and the consecutive sampling days in the experimental group at A – p < 0.05. b. Dot plot cytogram showing the percentage of phagocytising granulocytes in control and experimental calves on experimental day 30. Whole heparinised blood from control and experimental animals was incubated for 10 min with FITC-labelled E. coli in an ice bath at a temperature of 0 °C (negative control) or in a water bath at a temperature of 37 °C (control and HMB). The percentages of granulocytes with ingested E. coli (FITC) bacteria were gated. c. Mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) of granulocytes in calf groups, as determined in the Phagotest® kit. Key: I – control group; II – experimental group; SD - standard deviation; Numerical results were presented as the arithmetic mean ± SD. The significance level was set at 0.05. Asterisks refer to statistically significant differences between the control group and the experimental group on the same sampling day at *** p < 0.001; B refers to statistically significant differences between day “0” and the consecutive sampling days in the experimental group at B – p < 0.01