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
Pregnancy is a stressful condition in which many physiological and metabolic functions are altered to a considerable extent . Pregnancy is a physiological state accompanied by a high-energy demand and an increased oxygen requirement. The present study aim to study selenium ,zinc cupper in the first trimester of pregnancy. The study group comprised of Fourty five pregnant women and twenty six non pregnant women as control . The samples were taken from pregnant women who come to several heath center in Baghdad city to cheak up. Laboratory investigations including Cupper, Ceruloplasmin, Total Antioxidant (TAA), malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), Zinc, Uric acid, and Selenium had been measured in pregnant women and control . Th
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Samples of the ovary and uterus of local breed cats used to investigate the histological, histometrical and hormonal features. The paraffin embedding technique was used for processing of tissue that stained by hematoxyline and eosin stain, and massons trichrom stain. Ovary of at proestrus or oestrus phases composed of outer cortex that covered by cuboidal germinal epithelium and inner medulla. Tunica albuginea composed of a thin layer of characterized by fusiform stromal cells. The cortex content groups of Oogonial cells, numerous primordial follicles, little primary, secondary and tertiary follicles in addition for 1-2 follicular cysts and mature corpus letium. In pregnant cat the thickness of ovarian cortex was significantly incre
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Therapeutically and prophylactically using Microspheres containing doxycycline isolated from shell of shrimp. Low molecule weight poly lactic acid was prepared. In this study, Poly lactic acid (PLA)/ poly vinyl alcohol (PVA)/poly ethyleneglycol(PEG) loading doxycycline blend solutions was prepared. Also Poly lactic acid (PLA)-Tannin blend via solvent evaporation method was prepared. Microspheres of chitosan/gelatin microsphere loading doxycycline was prepared by emulsion crosslinking technique. Both microsphere and blends were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrophotometer. The FTIR spectra were shown distinguish bands. The in vitro release of doxcycline from its matrix at pH 7 was studied. The prophylactic
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The results of this study showed that the tongue of the adult Iraqi domestic cat is divided into three regions of apex, body and root. The dorsal surface of all regions possesses five types of lingual papillae, two mechanical which are filiform and cylindrical papillae, while the other three types are taste papillae which are foliate, fungiform and circumvallate papillae, while these papillae are absent on its ventral surface. The histological examination of all tongue areas revealed that it consisted of three tunica, the tunica mucosa and the tunica submucosa (the lamina propria) and the tunica muscularis. The tunica mucosa consisted of the epithelial lining, which is a stratified squamous epithelial tissue covering the lingual papillae, a
... Show MoreCO2 laser (10.6 μm) is the most often used laser in the oral surgery due to its high absorption by water of the oral tissues. Several benefits of the use of CO2 laser have been reported for oral surgical procedures. This study aims to evaluate the effect of CO2 laser on soft and hard oral tissues (in vitro study). This study was done on fresh tissues from sheep’s head. CO2Surgical Laser with different operation modes was used; 0.2 mm spot size using different laser parameters on the tongue, and bone making holes, incisions and cutting. The depths and widths of holes and incisions were measured using endodontic file under magnification. The speed of incisions was calculated and the required time for cutting was measured using sport clo
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In this work involved prepared of several new 1-cyclopentene-1,2-dicarboxylimide linked to oxadiazole and benzothiazole moiety were synthesized by two steps: The first step 2-amino-substituted-1,3,4-oxadiazoles and substituted-2-aminobenzothiazole were reaction with 1-cyclopentene-1,2-dicarboxyl anhydride producing N-( 5- substituted-1,3,4-oxadiazole-2-yl)-1-cyclopentene-1,2-dicarboxyl amic acids and N-(Substitutedbenzothiazole-2-yl)-1-cyclopentene-1,2-dicarboxyl amic acids which in turn were dehydrated in the second step via fusion method to afford he desirable N-(5-substituted-1,3,4-oxadiazole-2-yl)-1-cyclopentene-1,2-dicarboxylimides and N-(Substituted benzothiazole-2-yl)1-cyclopentene-1,2-dicarboxylimides respectively. Struct
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The present study showed that the branchial arch is characterized by the presence of
irregular black line along its length. This line is condensations of melanocytes . The branchial
arch bears two rows of gill rakers at its anterior (internal) side whereas its posterior (external)
side bears two rows of gill filaments. Histologically, the gill arch is composed of hyaline
cartilage surrounded by mixed bone ,which is covered by a mucous membrane. Its epithelium
contains mucous cells and taste buds, whereas its loose connective tissue contains blood
vessels and skeletal muscles. The histological structure of gill raker is similar to that of the
gill arch except the absence of cartilage and muscles .The present st