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 engagement of pharmacists in research activities is pivotal in the advancement of the pharmacy practice. The study aims to evaluate the confidence and competence of Malaysian hospital pharmacists in conducting clinical and practice-based research.
A cross-sectional study was carried out between September 2019 and April 2020 using an online survey. Pharmacists from eight different hospitals in Malaysia were involved in the study. The survey link was sent to all pharmacists of the included hospitals via email. Data were analysed using SPSS version 25.
A total of 226 pharmacists participated in this study, and their average age was 28 years old. About 82 % of the participants reported that they did not have any previous re
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Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of death worldwide. Certain genetic polymorphisms play an important role in this multifactorial disease, being linked with increased risk of early onset CAD.
To assess six genetic polymorphisms and clinical risk factors in relation to early onset nondiabetic Iraqi Arab CAD patients compared to controls.
This case–contro
The exercise of citizenship behaviors and their impact on customer loyalty (An analytical study from the perspective of workers in the National Insurance Company).
The Research aims to find out the degree of customers National Insurance company for customer citizenship behavior and its impact on the level oh loyalty from the perspective of employess in the company, as well as the statement of the differences in the answers of employees according to their personality traits. To achieve the goals of research has been the use of the questionnaire as a tool for the collection and distribution of data on a sample of (90) individuals, as was the use of statistical program (SPSS) in the process of statistical analysis methods (mean, sta
... Show MoreAbstract Rasha Hameid Jehad Baghdad University Background: The high reactivity of hydrogen peroxide used in bleaching agents have raised important questions on their potential adverse effects on physical properties of restorative materials. The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the effect of in-office bleaching agents on the microhardness of a new Silorane-based restorative material in comparison to methacrylate-based restorative material. Materials and method: Forty specimens of Filtek™ P90 (3M ESPE,USA) and Filtek™ Supreme XT (3M ESPE, USA) of (8mm diameter and 3m height) were prepared. All specimens were polished with Sof-Lex disks (3M ESPE, USA). All samples were rinsed and stored in incubator 37˚C for 24 ho
... Show MoreBackground: In young adults, multiple sclerosis is a prevalent chronic inflammatory demyelinating condition. It is characterized by white matter affection, but many individuals also have significant gray matter involvement. A double-inversion recovery pulse (DIR) pattern was recently proposed to improve the visibility of multiple sclerosis lesions. Objective: To find out how well a DIR sequence, FLAIR, and T2-weighted pulse sequences can find MS lesions in the supratentorial and infratentorial regions. Methods: A total of 37 patients with established diagnoses of multiple sclerosis were included in this cross-sectional study. Brain MRI was done using double inversion recovery, T2, and FLAIR sequences. The number of lesions was count
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This study aims to know the role of strategic leadership to achieving competitiveness in industrial establishments by identifying the respondents’ perceptions about the level of availability of dimensions of leadership strategies (creativity and innovation, risk tolerance, available opportunities) in Bashir Al-Siksek & Partners Company for the manufacture of sanitary and plastic ware in Gaza strip
To achieve this, a questionnaire was developed and distributed to a sample of managers, auditors, accountants, and administrative employees in the study sample company. The questionnaire tool was distributed to 60 employees and employees, of which (52) were retrieved, or 86.6%, and (8) were excluded for la
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This research worked on identifying the effect of increasing the volume of indebtedness by companies listed on the Iraq Stock Exchange on the trading volume of those companies, and this research included some theoretical concepts related to both debt financing and trading volume, and it represents the research community of the joint-stock companies listed in The Iraq Stock Exchange (the banking sector). As for the research sample, it was deliberately chosen represented by companies with continuous trading without stopping, which reached 10 joint-stock companies, and the period of research was extended during the period 2011-2015, and a set of indicators and financial methods were used In measuring research v
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