Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Biophysics
Characteristics of the department
The Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Biophysics is an educational, scientific research workplace. It provides teaching of obligatory and compulsory optional subjects from the field of chemistry, biochemistry and biophysics for students of all the study programmes with the exception of Cynology study programme and Market and Food Quality study programme. The scientific research activities of this workplace focuses on biochemical research with applications of results in veterinary medicine, toxicology, and pharmacy. The study of properties of biochemically active substances, their isolation and analysis is included in the scope of the department research as well.
History
Organization and teaching activities
The Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Biophysics was established in 1949 as part of the University of Veterinary Medicine (originally the Veterinary College). The Veterinary College began its first academic year in 1949/50 and consisted of four institutes. One of them, the Institute of Veterinary Chemistry, was directed by Michal Bartík, DVM and was situated in pavilions XI and XII. From 23 October 1950, the Veterinary College established seven departments, including the Department of Chemistry and Physiology, also directed by Michal Bartík, DVM. This department comprised four institutes – the Institute of Veterinary Chemistry, the Institute of Physiology, the Institute of Nutrition, and the Division of Physics. The department provided teaching of four subjects – Veterinary Chemistry, Medical Physics, Physiology, Nutrition and Dietetics. In January 1952, the Institute of Veterinary Chemistry moved to reconstructed pavilion IV, where it remained until 2010.
The further development of the Veterinary College was determined by the establishing of additional workplaces – departments, that were divided into institutes. In 1953, twelve departments already existed in the Veterinary College. Among them, the Department of Veterinary Chemistry directed by Michal Bartík, DVM was divided into three institutes – the Institute of General Chemistry (Ing. Karol Zwick,), the Institute of Biochemistry (Michal Bartík, DVM), the Division of Physics (Ing. Milan Rudič).
On 1 January 1957 the whole department was renamed the Department of Chemistry and Physics and provided teaching of General Medical Chemistry, Veterinary Biochemistry, Medical Physics and from 1952 to 1957, also Veterinary Toxicology. From 1960 to 1962, a part of the department was reconstructed for the needs of the newly established Radioisotope Division, which began operating on 27 April 1962. From 1964, the department was named the Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Toxicology. In 1959, three divisions were established at the department: the Division of General Medical Chemistry, the Division of Biochemistry and the Division of Toxicology. In the academic year 1960/61, the Division of Radioisotopes was also established. In 1963, the Division of Medical Physics was separated from the union of original workplaces of the department and became part of another independent department. From the academic year 1967/68, the teaching of Agrochemistry was added to the subjects covered by the department.
From 1959, the Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Biophysics provided teaching of the following subjects: Biochemistry, General Medical Chemistry and Toxicology for veterinary medicine students, in both full-time and external forms of study. From the academic year 1963/64, the department also provided teaching of Organic, Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry for students of the Operational and Economic Faculty of the Agricultural University in Nitra.
In 1971, the former Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Toxicology fused with the Institute of Pathological Physiology forming a new workplace – the Department of Pathological Physiology, Biochemistry and Toxicology with Prof. Koloman Boďa, DVM, DrSc as a director. This department consisted of the Institute of Pathological Physiology and the Institute of Biochemistry and Toxicology from 1971 to 1976. From 1 April 1976, the former Institute of Biochemistry and Toxicology spilt into the Institute of Biochemistry and Agrochemistry and the Institute of Toxicology and Medical Chemistry. From 1969, the department provided teaching of the following subjects: Medical Chemistry, Biochemistry and Toxicology. Starting from the academic year 1975/76, the teaching of Chemistry was added for full-time students of the Economics and Management Faculty of the Agricultural University in Nitra. From the academic year 1976/77, the following subjects were taught at the department: Medical Chemistry, Biochemistry - for students of an external form in the study programme Food Hygiene. From the academic year 1977/78 these subjects were also taught to students of an external form of the Faculty of Economics and Management of the Agricultural University in Nitra at the Consultation Centre in the Veterinary College in Košice.
In 1986, the department was renamed back to that of 1964 – the Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Toxicology and was directed by Prof. Ing. Štefan Ivanko, DrSc. It consisted of two divisions: the Division of Biochemistry, Agrochemistry and Radiobiology, and the Division of Chemistry and Toxicology. The department provided teaching of Biochemistry, Food Chemistry, Fundamentals of Agricultural Chemization, General Chemistry, Toxicology.
In December 1989, a change in the leadership of the department took place, and in 1991 the name of the workplace was changed into the Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Biophysics with corresponding structural change – the separation of the Division of Toxicology and the addition of the Division of Biophysics to the newly created department. Assoc. Prof. Ing. Ján Blahovec, CSc. became the head of the Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Biophysics. It provided the teaching of Chemistry, Biophysics and Biochemistry for Slovak students, and starting from 1991, for international students in English as well.
In 1994, the divisions ceased to exist and Prof. Ivan Rosival, DVM, CSc. became the head of the department. In 1997 he was succeeded by Assoc. Prof. Ladislav Vaško, DVM, CSc.
In March 2002, the Department of Chemistry, Biology and Biochemistry was formed under the leadership of Assoc. Prof. Ladislav Vaško, DVM, CSc., along with the Institute of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Biophysics and the Institute of Biology. From 2005 to 2007, Prof. František Lešník, DVM, DrSc. was the head of this department.
On 1 September 2007, the Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Biophysics was newly reorganized under the leadership of Ing. Jozef Sokol, CSc. It consisted of three institutes – the Institute of Pharmaceutical and Medical Chemistry, the Institute of Biochemistry and the Institute of Biophysics and Biomathematics. When the department moved to the newly reconstructed building of the former Institute of Experimental Veterinary Medicine in 2010, it was officially established as the Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Biophysics. It consisted of four institutes – the Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, the Institute of Medical Chemistry, the Institute of Biochemistry and the Institute of Biophysics. Since 1 September 2011, the department has been led by Assoc. Prof. Zuzana Kostecká, DVM, PhD. On 1 September 2020, all four institutes fused into one unit – the Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Biophysics. In its current structural organization, the department is headed by Assoc. Prof. Zuzana Kostecká, DVM, PhD., who has been serving in this role to the present day.
Scientific research activities and medical laboratory examinations
Scientific research activity of the department began from its establishment when a division for the detection of poisonings in domestic animals was created. This division carried out its investigative activities covering the whole territory of Slovakia, which significantly supported ongoing teaching as well as scientific research work of the department. Later, from 1959 to 1968, the department continued its investigations into poisoning in domestic animals, including cases of forensic toxicological expertise.
In the first decade, the scientific research activity of the department focused on the research of blood sera proteins in domestic animals, the study on sex hormones and laboratory diagnosis of pregnancy as well as the study in the field of poisonings of animals by chemical substances. In the second decade, the scientific research activity of the department was characterized by the study of metabolism and detoxification of nitrates and nitrites in livestock, the study of steroid hormone metabolism in blood, the study of enzymatic diagnostics and treatment in veterinary practice as well as the study of the application of ionexchangers as detoxification agents in cases of ammonia and urea poisoning in ruminants . In the third decade, the utilization of non-protein nitrogen in the organisms of livestock was studied. As a result, new procedures for determination of aminopeptidases and other proteolytic enzymes using chromogenic substrates were developed. The fourth decade of the department was connected with the study of protein and peptide hydrolysis, the identification of its products and the influence of antinutrients on the hydrolysis of proteins. Using amino acid potential of diet in relation to energy on production health of pigs and quality of the slaughter products was studied as well. In the fifth decade, the biotransformation of xenobiotics by the ruminal microbial ecosystem and by the organisms of ruminants was investigated, including the study of antioxidant and detoxifying enzymes as potential biomarkers of pesticides and xenobiotics effect in livestock. The scientific research activities of the department were also focused on the study of low-molecular-weight growthfactors in blood and body fluids of ruminants. In the sixth decade, the study of changes of antioxidant and detoxifying enzymes due to environmental pollution as well as possible positive effect of antioxidants on livestock continued. The research work also included the study of the effects of polyunsaturated fatty acids on health, production indicators, biochemical and immunological status, disease prevention and an increase of dietetic values of animal products.