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 accurate extracting, studying, and analyzing of drainage basin morphometric aspects is important for the accurate determination of environmental factors that formed them, such as climate, tectonic activity, region lithology, and land covering vegetation.
This work was divided into three stages; the 1st stage was delineation of the Al-Abiadh basin borders using a new approach that depends on three-dimensional modeling of the studied region and a drainage network pattern extraction using (Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission) data, the 2nd was the classification of the Al-Abiadh basin streams according to their shape and widenings, and the 3rd was ex
... Show MoreExperiments research is done to determine how saturated stiff clayey soil responds to a single impulsive load. Models made of saturated, stiff clay were investigated. To supply the single pulse energy, various falling weights from various heights were tested using the falling weight deflectometer (FWD). Dynamic effects can range from the major failure of a sensitive sensor or system to the apparent destruction of structures. This study examines the response of saturated stiff clay soil to a single impulsive load (vertical displacement at the soil surface below and beside the bearing plates). Such reactions consist of displacements, velocities, and accelerations caused by the impact occurring at the surface depth induced by the impact loads
... Show MoreObjectives: With the advent of ongoing novel modalities toward the treatment of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)/NEU - positive malignancies, the serious side effects of chemoradiotherapy have been minimized. Hence, this study was conducted to identify the patterns of immunohistochemical expression of the promising therapeutic target (HER2/NEU) among Iraqi patients with medulloblastoma in an attempt to provide basic histological information’s that would help in future clinical researches.Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, 42 formalin - fixed paraffin - embedded tissue blocks represent cases of surgically removed medulloblastomas were retrieved from the archived materials in a specialized surgical ho
... Show MoreAzo dyes like methyl orange (MO) are very toxic components due to their recalcitrant properties which makes their removal from wastewater of textile industries a significant issue. The present study aimed to study their removal by utilizing aluminum and Ni foam (NiF) as anodes besides Fe foam electrodes as cathodes in an electrocoagulation (EC) system. Primary experiments were conducted using two Al anodes, two NiF anodes, or Al-NiF anodes to predict their advantages and drawbacks. It was concluded that the Al-NiF anodes were very effective in removing MO dye without long time of treatment or Ni leaching at in the case of adopting the Al-Al or NiF-NiF anodes, respectively. The structure and surface morphology of the NiF electrode were inves
... Show MoreThe uses of traditional plant extract in the treatment of various diseases have been flourished. The present study, IJSR, Call for Papers, Online Journal
In this research, the kinetic studies of four isoenzymes of Asprtate aminotransferase, which partially purified from the urine of chronic renal failure patients were carried out .The four isoenzymes were obeyed Michaelis-Menton's equation and the optimum concentration of their substrate (Aspartic acid) was (166.5x10-3) mole/liter,and their Km values were determined. Four isoenzymesI,II,III,IV have shown an optimum pH at 7.4.The four isoenzymes obeyed Arrhenius equation up to 37º C and their Ea and Q10 constants were determined .
An observational study to discover the common conditions affecting the lumbosacral region that may affect lumbosacral position and tension. All the patients, underwent MRI exaamination (magnetic resonance imaging) in the supine position, were examined by the same consultant radiologist. The article was revised by the institutional ethical approval committee. The position of the nerve roots was observed, and the number of nerve roots was calculated anterior to a line passing between the mid-transvers process of L3(third lumbar vertebra). The number of nerve roots ahead of this line was calculated by the radiologist at the level of the right intervertebral foramen and at the left one. This procedure was applied to the normal group, an
... Show MoreThe Accommodation industry in Iraq suffers from many problems, especially after 2003, when the Accommodation industry was exposed to many crises due to the security and political situation in Iraq, which negatively affected the administrative operations inside the industry and created many problems, the most important of which are deterioration, high costs and poor performance, so some hotel administrations sought To find alternative solutions that help in the advancement of hotels, one of the proposals is to go to technology, as technology is currently one of the most important solutions to solve large complex problems, as the world has turned to automation to solve complex problems such as increasing production, reducing costs, and rai
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