ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Estrogens has traditionally been known as the female hormone, but this idea has been challenged in early 1990’s and an essential physiological role for estrogen in male fertility was identified. Phytoestrogens are naturally occurring non-steroidal plant chemicals that can act like the female hormone estrogen. The herbs ( anise alfalfa and vervain ) chosen in this study contain phytoestrogens. OBJECTIVE: Previous studies demonstrated controversy of the effects of phytoestrogens on the rat testes .Hence, the present investigation was undertaken to investigate the influence of typical dose of herbs containing phytoestrogen on the rat testis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-four apparently normal mature male rats were divided into four groups of 6 animals each. The first "control" group received only 4ml of distilled water as a placebo. The second group received 40mg/kg of anise seed; the third group received 53.3 mg/kg of dried herb of vervain and the fourth group received 400 mg /kg of alfalfa seeds. All experimental groups received the doses through orogastric tube daily for fourteen days. Testicular histology was evaluated by light and enzyme histochemistry. Plasma FSH and testosterone concentrations were taken to support our results. RESULTS: Histological examination of anise, alfalfa and vervain – treated groups showed an increase in the height of germinal epithelia. There was marked lipoprotein lipase activity in the whole of the interstitial tissue which is more in amount in experimental groups than that in control group. Acid phosphatase granules were infiltered the seminiferous epithelia mildly in control group , moderately in anise and vervain groups and markedly in alfalfa group. The number of interstitial cells showing marked acid phosphatase activity was higher in all experimental groups than that in control group. Alkaline phosphatase exhibited intense activity in the boundary tissue of the seminiferous tubules in testes of control and experimental groups but it appeared thicker in the latter. CONCLUSION: The low dose and short duration of treatment used in our study made these phytoestrogen – containing herbs to have a stimulatory effect on leydig cell steroidogenesis. This study also demonstrated that aniseed being the most potent of the three herbs followed by alfalfa in stimulating testosterone synthesis. This is possibly attributed to the coumarin constituent of aniseed and alfalfa. KEY WORDS: phytoestrogen-containing herbs, testis, acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase, lipoprotein lipase
GA Al Omran, AA Noaimi, Z Al Madfai, H Al Hamamy, Journal of the Faculty of Medicine Baghdad, 2012
Background: Pain is one of the most reported side effects of orthodontic treatment despite the advanced technology in orthodontics. Many analgesics have been introduced to control orthodontic pain including acetaminophen and selective and nonselective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The great concern about these drugs is their adverse effect on rate of teeth movement. Aims: The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the effect of acetaminophen, ibuprofen and etoricoxib on pain perception and their influence on the rate of teeth movement during leveling and alignment stage. Methods: Forty patients were evenly and randomly distributed in a blinded way to one of four groups: placebo (starch capsules), acetaminophen 500mg th
... Show MoreSeveral types of laser are used in experimental works in order to study the effects of laser on blood vessel. They differ from each other by a lot of properties mainly in wavelength, energy of the laser and pulse duration. In this study argon laser (488 nm- 514 nm) and continuous Nd: YAG laSer (1064 nm), have been applied to 50 samples of sheep blgod tesselS. Histologically, tha results of the study were different According to the txpe of L`sar used; apgon larer had distrabtave effects on $he blood vessal while continuous Nd: YAG laser Appeaped to be the safesd one on the blmod vessel architecture. This study concluded that argoj laser has da-aging ef&ect on
... Show MoreNutrient enrichment of Sawa lake water was made using different nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations during autumn and spring at three stations. Different concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus and N: P ratios were used to test variations in phytoplankton population dynamics. Nitrogen at a concentration of 25 µmole.l-1 and N: P ratio of 10:1 gave highest phytoplankton cell number at all stations and seasons. A total of 64 algal taxa dominated by Bacillariophyceae followed by Cyanophyceae and Chlorophyceae were identified. The values of Shannon index of diversity were more than one in the studied stations.
Some types of the fungus Aspergillus were isolated from some hospitals in the city of Baghdad (Imam Ali Hospital and Sadr General Hospital). The samples were taken by Transport media at a rate of three replicates of each place isolated from samples from different places within the hospital (waste, baths, the sick beds, corridors and room floors) for the purpose of isolating and diagnosing the fungus on the Czapeck Dox Agar media. It was noticed that the spread rate of fungus Aspergillus was 70% compared to other species that have emerged during the isolation process of the Sabouraud's Dextrose Agar media. The species A.niger (56.25%) was considered the most common type of fungus visible during the isolation process of the Imam Ali Hospit
... Show MoreBackground: Levetiracetam is a member of the new antiepileptic drugs and has a broad spectrum effect, used as an adjunctive therapy in addition to monotherapy in the treatment of partial onset-seizures. The effect of levetiracetam on the development of embryo nervous system after maternal exposure during pregnancy has not been identified. Objective: to evaluate the effect of antiepileptic drug, levetiracetam (LEV) within its therapeutic dose 350mg/Kg body weight on albino female rat to clarify its effect on the developing cerebral cortex histologically. Material And Methods: Ten pregnant female rats were separated into two groups, control group and experimental group. They were obtained from the animal house of the high institute of inferti
... Show MoreAir pollution is very important topic for those interested in studying the environment because of its importance and the damage caused by it to human, animal and plant life. This research addresses the concept of air pollution, its causes, and its danger, and sheds light on the influence of climate elements on environmental pollution and the effect of temperature, rain, humidity, wind direction and speed, and atmospheric pressure on the increase or decrease of air pollution. This research discusses the sources of air pollution, including natural ones, including dust, smoke resulting from fires, erupting volcanoes, and others, including those resulting from human uses such as the use of fuel and others. The research addressed the dam
... Show MoreThis histological study was carried out to compare between the thyroid gland of mice (as a model of the mammals) and the thyroid tissue of fish. Unlike mice, the thyroid gland of fish can't be recognized by naked eye. The present study revealed that the thyroid of mice varied from that of fish by the location and the histological structure. The study classified the physiological state of the thyroid of mice into three states and that of the fish into only two states. Accordingly, the study concluded that the metabolism of thyroid fish was of moderate type.
Breast cancer is one of the most important malignant diseases all over the world. The incidence of breast cancer is increasing around the world and it is still the leading cause of cancer mortality An Approximately 1.3 million new cases were diagnosed worldwide last year. With areas rising increasing, risk factors for breast cancer including obesity, early menarche, alcohol and smoking, environmental contamination and reduced or late birth rates become more prevalent. In Iraq, breast cancer ranks first among types of cancers diagnosed in women. This study was conducted on one hundred twenty women with breast cancer that was evaluated and investigated for the possible role of the risk factors on the development of breast cancer in females. T
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