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
Background and Aim: The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) plays a pivotal role in spermatogenesis through its regulatory functions in redox balance and gene expression. This study aimed to investigate the effects of resveratrol (RES), a polyphenolic AhR modulator, and CH223191, a selective AhR antagonist, on male reproductive function in rats by assessing sperm quality, oxidative stress, testicular histopathology, and AhR gene expression. Materials and Methods: Forty adult male rats were randomly divided into four groups: (i) Control, (ii) dimethyl sulfoxide (vehicle), (iii) RES (100 mg/kg i.p., twice weekly), and (iv) AhR⁻ (CH223191, 10 mg/kg i.p., twice weekly), treated for 60 days. Post-treatment, sperm motility, survival, viabi
... Show MoreThe research aims to shed light on the role of artificial intelligence in achieving Ambidexterity performance, as banks work to take advantage of modern technologies, artificial intelligence is an innovation that is expected to have a long-term impact, as well as banks can improve the quality of their services and analyze data to ensure that customers' future needs are understood. . The Bank of Baghdad and the Middle East Bank were chosen as a community for the study because they had a role in the economic development of the country as well as their active role in the banking market. A sample of department managers was highlighted in collecting data and extracting results based on the checklist, which is the main tool for the stu
... Show MoreThis paper is an attempt to clarify the impact of Postcolonialism, one of the most
challenging fields of study that has emerged in recent years, on representations of women in
once-colonised countries and in Western locations. It discusses the influence of cultural
differences on the status and identity of a woman who experience ‗multiculturalism‘. The
study is an analytical reading of a contemporary novel written by the Iraqi writer Betool Al-
Kudairi. The emphasis lies on the clash between two different cultures and traditions
represented by the British mother and the Iraqi father and its effect on the life and identity of
the protagonist. The main focus is on idea of ‗hybrid identity‘ and the absence of th
This research aims to clarify the conceptual framework of social entrepreneurship shows the importance of the development of social entrepreneurship according to the contextual aspects and the social value achieved from these works. It also identifies the degree of level of a sample of women entrepreneurs in Iraq for the extent of the relationship between social entrepreneurship and women's empowerment. It also explains the impact of entrepreneurial work in empowering women and the extent to which there are individual differences between the average scores of the sample members’ estimation of the level of social entrepreneurship according to social status, age group, educational qualification, and specialization according to the s
... Show MoreSchools and artistic trends derive their themes from artistic styles and styles as methods followed by the artist to express his themes embodied in the values of artistic and plastic elements as symbols and signs that can be described according to the type of art school and the extent to which the artist is influenced in employing them as a goal to achieve the plastic achievement in the painting, and from those vocabulary (human beings nature Life) as encoded messages that have an appearance and an interior, the appearance of which are forms, colors, formats and distributions of space and their interior meanings and semantics embody attitudes, events and circumstances that stem from the social depth and daily life and derive their comp
... Show MoreCancer is one of the critical health concerns. Health authorities around the world have devoted great attention to cancer and cancer causing factors to achieve control against the increasing rate of cancer. Carcinogens are the most salient factors that are accused of causing a considerable rate of cancer cases. Scientists, in different fields of knowledge, keep warning people of the imminent attack of carcinogens which are surrounding people in the environment and may launch their attack at any moment. The present paper aims to investigate the linguistic construction of the imminent carcinogen attack in English and Arabic scientific discourse. Such an investigation contributes to enhancing the scientists’ awareness of the linguistic co
... Show MorePurpose: The purpose of the study is to compare and evaluate Earnings Management in Tunisia and Iraq. Theoretical framework: Earnings Management is an important topic that has been studied by a significant number of researchers, as well as those who are interested in the accounting profession. Earnings Management has gotten a lot of attention from academics, professionals, and other interested parties in recent years (e.g. Kliestik et al., 2020; Rahman et al., 2021; Gamra &Ellouze, 2021) Design/methodology/approach: The sample includes ten banks listed on the Bourse of Tunisia and Iraq Stock Exchanges for the year 2017. We have used a model of Kothari et al., (2005) as a tool to measure Earnings Management in both mark
... Show MoreDiode lasers are becoming popular in periodontal surgery due to their highly absorption by pigments such as melanin and hemoglobin their weak absorption by water and hydroxyapatite makes them safe to be used around dental hard tissues. Objective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficiency of diode laser in performing gingivectomy in comparison to conventional scalpel technique in patients with chronic inflammatory enlargement. Materials and methods: Thirty patients were selected for this study. All of them required surgical treatment of gingival enlargements and were randomly divided into two groups: Control group (treated by scalpel and include sixteen patients) and study group (treated with diode laser 940nm and includ
... Show MoreThe open hole well log data (Resistivity, Sonic, and Gamma Ray) of well X in Euphrates subzone within the Mesopotamian basin are applied to detect the total organic carbon (TOC) of Zubair Formation in the south part of Iraq. The mathematical interpretation of the logs parameters helped in detecting the TOC and source rock productivity. As well, the quantitative interpretation of the logs data leads to assigning to the organic content and source rock intervals identification. The reactions of logs in relation to the increasing of TOC can be detected through logs parameters. By this way, the TOC can be predicted with an increase in gamma-ray, sonic, neutron, and resistivity, as well as a decrease in the density log
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