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
DBN Rashid, Asian Quarterly: An International Journal of Contemporary Issue, 2018
One of the prominent goals of Metrical Phonology Theory is providing stress of poetry on the syllable-, the foot-, and the phonological word- levels. Analysing poetry is one of the most prominent and controversial issues for the involved number and types of syllables, feet, and meters are stable in poetry compared to other literary texts. The prosodic seeds of the theory have been planted by Firth (1948) in English, while in Arabic يديهارفلا in the second half of the eighth century (A.D.) has done so. Investigating the metrical structure of poetry has been conducted in various languages, whereas scrutinising the metrical structure of English and Arabic poetry has received little attention. This study aims at capturing the
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Among the things that have happened and that have emerged from the developments in society is the phenomenon of dairy banks, where institutions collect milk from donating mothers or sellers of milk and benefit from it by sterilizing and selling it.
This topic is considered one of the important topics, as Islam considers breastfeeding as a link as well as parentage, and it has the same genealogy as the spread of sanctity. Therefore, Imamate jurists addressed this topic with research despite its absence in Islamic societies.
The importance of r
... Show MoreVanadium dioxide nanofilms are one of the most essential materials in electronic applications like smart windows. Therefore, studying and understanding the optical properties of such films is crucial to modify the parameters that control these properties. To this end, this work focuses on investigating the opacity as a function of the energy directed at the nanofilms with different thicknesses (1–100) nm. Effective mediator theories (EMTs), which are considered as the application of Bruggeman’s formalism and the Looyenga mixing rule, have been used to estimate the dielectric constant of VO2 nanofilms. The results show different opacity behaviors at different w
Terrorism is a serious problem for many societies today. This research aims to identify the impact of terrorism and displacement crisis on human security, which was a shock to the Iraqi society in terms of its impact on the psychological, social and economic conditions of the individual, family, and society. The variety of methods of carrying out the terrorist operations that resulted from the phenomenon of human displacement witnessed by Iraq since the middle of 2014. This phenomenon has its demographic, political and social dimensions.
In order to achieve the goal of this study and the importance of the subject, the social survey method was used by selecting a sample of 200 IDPs in a compou
... Show MoreThe concept of decolonization of trauma has intrigued researchers for years due to its prolonged effect on personal and cultural levels. The process of intellectual decolonization involves defensive survival mechanisms, such as cultural rituals using traditional practices, nostalgic dialogues that idealize memories and recollections, and conversations about identity to navigate postcolonial trauma displacement. Symbolic connections evoke strong emotional responses, bridging the gap between the characters‘ physical dislocation and their imaginary homeland. Cocooning identity represents a space where a multidimensional self emerges—one that holds the victim of trauma, the survivor who endures, and the narrator, who constructs an idealized
... Show MoreBackground: Urolithiasis and hypertension are prevalent and clinically significant conditions in the Middle East, both influenced by shared metabolic and environmental risk factors. Understanding the potential association between them is important for guiding prevention strategies. Objective: To explore the relationship between urolithiasis and hypertension in a sample of Iraqi adult patients. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted at Alkindy Teaching Hospital, Baghdad, from September 2024 to March 2025. Participants included 237 patients with confirmed urinary tract stones and 244 controls confirmed to be stone-free, matched for age and sex. Exclusion criteria included secondary hypertension, chronic kidney di
... Show MoreOne of the prominent goals of Metrical Phonology Theory is providing stress of poetry on the syllable-, the foot-, and the phonological word- levels. Analysing poetry is one of the most prominent and controversial issues for the involved number and types of syllables, feet, and meters are stable in poetry compared to other literary texts. The prosodic seeds of the theory have been planted by Firth (1948) in English, while in Arabic يديهارفلا in the second half of the eighth century (A.D.) has done so. Investigating the metrical structure of poetry has been conducted in various languages, whereas scrutinising the metrical structure of English and Arabic poetry has received little attention. This study aims at capturing the
... Show MoreDBNRAAK Mohammed, International Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities, 2020
Proverbs gain their importance not only from the fact that they represent a cultural record of the people of every nation, but they reveal the way they use language and how they exploit their environments as a good source of inspiration to enrich that language. Domestic animals, as part of every environment, play a major role in composing proverbs in every nation.
This study is an attempt to pragmastylistically analyse some selected English and Iraqi rural proverbs using domestic animals in their texts. It limits itself to investigate certain stylistic and pragmatic devices such as: the type of sentences, their lengths, their content and grammatical words, the part of speech used, metaph
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