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
Experimental investigations had been done in this study to demonstrate the effect of natural particles used as a reinforcement material to unsaturated polyester resin. The tensile test and water absorption were investigated according to (ASTM D638) and (ASTM D570), respectively. The influence of sunflower husk and pomegranate husk particles, used as a reinforcement material, on the tensile strength, Young's modulus and water absorption with different weight fraction (3%, 7% and 10%) and particle grain size (50µm, 100 µm and 150 µm), has been investigated. The water absorption of polymer composites was studied by measuring the specimen weight before and after immersion in water for one hundred days. In the experiments of tensile test,
... Show MoreHands have consistently been an important vehicle in the transmission of disease (1). Thus, thorough hand-washing remains the single most important factor in preventing infection specially in hospitals and labs.Twenty-nine non-clinical volunteers (do not work or come in contact with a clinical or hospital setting) that lacked visible skin injuries, eczema or apparent skin disease were used, those subjects were all tested by a material of each of the three used in the study weekly and laboratory tests were done pre- and post washing.All three material were effective , Eugenol extract as effective as the bar and lotion soap. And this was confirmed statistically.Eugenol has a great antibacterial action even in small concentration and t
... Show MoreA study of some biological aspects of the crustacean Isopod procellio scaber was carried out for the period April 2003 to march 2004 . The study consisted reproductive and morphological characteristies such as size , weight and length of the body . The result showed that the highest population density of P. scaber was 1120 individual/m2 in September 2003 and less density 403 ind/m2 in February 2004. The density was generally high in Spring and Autumn, low in Summer and Winter months.An increase of the sexual ratio appear in the females number compared to males number (p < 0.05) during most of year. Present study showed non significant increase in the length and dry weight for females compared to males in most of year months. There wer
... Show MoreThe emergence of oil fields and subsequent changes in adjacent land use are known to affect settlements and communities. Everywhere the industry emerges, there is little understanding about the impact of oil fields on land use in the surrounding areas. The oil industry in Iraq is one of the most important industries and is almost the main industry in the Iraqi economic sector, and it is very clear that this industry is spread over large areas, and at the same time adjoins with population communities linked to it developmentally.
The rapid development and expansion of oil extraction activities in various regions has led to many challenges related to land-use planning and management. Here, the problem of research arises on th
... Show MoreBackground: Decalcification of surface enamel adjacent to fixed orthodontic appliances, in the form of white spot lesions, is a wide spread and familiar well-known side effect of orthodontic treatment. The present study was carried out to evaluate the effect of enamel protective agent (Clinpro white varnish) on shear and tensile bond strength of Dentaurum orthodontic stainless steel brackets by using 3M Unitek and Ormco as orthodontic adhesive agents. Materials and methods: Sixty-four extracted human upper first premolar teeth were selected and randomly divided into two groups with 32 teeth each, representing the shear and tensile bond strength testing groups. Then according to the type of bonding adhesive and the addition of Clinpro before
... Show MoreThe high mobility group A1 gene (HMGA1) rs139876191 variant has been related to metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes, but data are lacking in Middle Eastern populations. The study aimed to assess whether the HMGA1 rs139876191 variant is associated with metabolic syndrome risk and whether this variant predicts the risk of insulin resistance. This case-control study was carried out at single center in Kirkuk city/ Iraq from February to August 2022. Polymorphisms in HMGA1 and genotyping were identified by Sanger sequencing of genomic DNA obtained from 91 Iraqi participants (61 patients with metabolic syndrome and 30 control). Lipid profile, serum (glucose and insulin), glycated hemoglobin, blood pressure, body mass index, and waist circumfer
... Show MoreBackground: A recent discoveries used for reconstruction in maxillofacial surgery is the composite bone graft materials. The availability of collagen I matrix make our choice to use this material in surgery .It is biomaterials that its structure could be modified by simple techniques. Studies to find a new materials use for bone reconstruction is to overcome the disadvantages of autogenous bone and the synthetic resorbable bone substitutes.
Objectives: This study was done to evaluate the effect of biphasic calcium phosphate collagen composite (ccpc) on healing of bone defects after oral surgical procedures.
Type of the study: A cross sectional study.
Method: It involved 60 patients, 35 male and 25 female, age (15-
... Show MoreThe aim of the research is to know the level of time management application and its impact on the performance of the job, a survey search in the general company for communication and information technology and provide recommendations that help employees to optimize the use of time and improve performance, which is an important element in controlling the various functions of the company. In order to achieve the objectives of the research, the questionnaire was based on two main variables and distributed to a random sample of (44) employees in the company out of (308) employees, thus the proportion of the sample (14%). After collecting the samples from the sample, there are (6) incomplete forms that have been retri
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