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
The present study was conducted on spring-fed(Abdullah Abu-Nadjem Oasis)west of AlDewanyah province,Iraq. ,during Winter 2007. The results indicate that water quality was neutral tend to be slightly alkaline pH was 7.7 and 7.4 for station(1)and station (2) respectively. Total hardness value of water about 1520 and 1488 mg/l.for two stations respectively ,This high values of hardness may be due to Calcium ions 397.5 and 395.5mg/l.for two stations. According to Salinity values (1.58 - 2.22) ‰(ppt) ,water of oasis may be classified as brackish water, the oasis water was well aerated dissolved oxygen was 5.3 and 7.4 mg/l. On the other hand about (58) algal taxa were recorded
... Show MoreAn edge dominating set of a graph is said to be an odd (even) sum degree edge dominating set (osded (esded) - set) of G if the sum of the degree of all edges in X is an odd (even) number. The odd (even) sum degree edge domination number is the minimum cardinality taken over all odd (even) sum degree edge dominating sets of G and is defined as zero if no such odd (even) sum degree edge dominating set exists in G. In this paper, the odd (even) sum degree domination concept is extended on the co-dominating set E-T of a graph G, where T is an edge dominating set of G. The corresponding parameters co-odd (even) sum degree edge dominating set, co-odd (even) sum degree edge domination number and co-odd (even) sum degree edge domin
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The present paper attempts to detect the level of (COVID-19) pandemic panic attacks among university students, according to gender and stage variables.
To achieve this objective, the present paper adopts the scale set up by (Fathallah et al., 2021), which has been applied electronically to a previous cross-cultural sample consisting of (2285) participants from Arab countries, including Iraq. The scale includes, in its final form, (69) optional items distributed on (6) dimensions: physical symptoms (13) items, psychological and emotional symptoms (12) items, cognitive and mental symptoms (11) items, social symptoms (8) items, general symptoms (13) items and daily living practices (12) items
... Show MoreTo investigate and assess the effects of land use and land cover (LULC) on concentrations of heavy metals in the surface soils of Lesser Zab River Basin (LZRB), 25 surface soil samples were taken from different LULC classes. Heavy metals concentrations were measured and their enrichment factors were calculated. Most of the LZRB soil samples are moderately alkaline with pH>8 and characterized by low organic content. The average abundance of the major oxides follow the decreasing order of SiO2 % > CaO % > Al2O3 % > Fe2O3 %> MgO > K2O % > TiO2 % > Na2O % > SO3 % > P2O5 %. A correlation matrix revealed that clay and feldspar minerals, Fe and Mn oxides / hydroxides are the most important carrier phase for several
... Show MoreThe aim of this work is oriented to increase film cooling effectiveness value through numerical investigations for flow of Mach number not more than 0.3 around vane surface, to find the effects of inclination and compounds angles of round holes in staggered rows on adiabatic film cooling effectiveness of vane suction side. Multi cylindrical film cooling hole cases were studied with pitch ratio P/d =2 and 3, local blowing ratios M=0.382, 0.77 and 1.14, inclination angles a=30° and 45°, compound angles β= 0°, 15°, 30° and 45° and local momentum ratios I= 0.084, 0.34 and 0.756 for better cooling process.
A numerica
... Show MoreBackground: During acrylic resin processing, the mold must be separated from the surface of the gypsum to prevent liquid resin from penetrating into the gypsum, and water from the gypsum seeping into the acrylic resin. For many years, tin foil was the most acceptable separating medium, and because it's difficult to apply, a tin-foil substitute is used. In this study, olive oil is used as an alternative to tin foil separating medium for first time, and evaluating its effect as a separating medium on some mechanical properties such as (indentation hardness and transverse strength) of acrylic resins denture base comparing it with those processed using tin-foil and tin foil substitute such as (cold mold seal) separating medium. Materials and M
... Show MoreThe research investigates the political effect and its directions on the architectural thoughts and its achievements and how can this political system affect all fields of life in communities including architectural urban design. The problem of the research lies in the ambiguity effects of the ideological national directions of the Nazi Party on the architecture and urban design of the city of Berlin, then determining the aims of the research to discuss the concepts of politics and architecture and their relation to the way of thinking that plays a role in the process of design that works on property and achieving the suitable urban environments for those communities. After that, the Nazi's party's thought would be studied and analyzed,
... Show MoreIn this work, enhancement to the fluorescence characteristics of laser dye solutions hosting highly-pure titanium dioxide nanoparticles as random gain media. This was achieved by coating two opposite sides of the cells containing these media with nanostructured thin films of highly-pure titanium dioxide. Two laser dyes; Rhodamine B and Coumarin 102, were used to prepare solutions in hexanol and methanol, respectively, as hosts for the nanoparticles. The nanoparticles and thin films were prepared by dc reactive magnetron sputtering technique. The enhancement was observed by the narrowing of fluorescence linewidth as well as by increasing the fluorescence intensity. These parameters were compared to those of the dye only and the dye solution
... Show MoreNonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are drugs that help reduce inflammation, which often helps to relieve pain. In this research new ibuprofen oxothiazolidnone derivatives were synthesized from the reaction of Schiff base derivatives of Ibuprofen with mercapto acetic acid VI a-c, to improve the potency and to decrease the drug's potential side effects, a new series of 4-thiazolidinone derivatives of ibuprofen was synthesized VI a-c . The characterizations of the compounds were identified by using FTIR, 1HNMR technique and by measuring the physical properties.
Present study investigates the protective role of quercetin in reducing benzene-induced toxicity in rats. Sixteen adult rats, weighing 200-250 g, were selected. They were divided into four groups: 1. Control group, 2. Benzene inhaled group, 3. Quercetin group and 4. Group of benzene and quercetin in combination. Biochemical, spermatological parameters, and histopathological changes in lungs were recorded. Results of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), urea and creatinine levels in the serum of rats were higher in benzene exposed rats than in unexposed rats. Conversely, exposure to benzene led to a decrease in sperm quality compared to the unexposed rats. Histopathological
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