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 nuclear density distributions and size radii are calculated for one-proton 8B, two-proton 17Ne, one-neutron 11Be and two-neutron 11Li halo nuclei. The theoretical outlines of calculations assume that the nuclei understudy are composed of two parts: the stable core and the unstable halo. The core part is studied using the radial wave functions of harmonic-oscillator (HO) potentials, while the halo is studied through Woods-Saxon (WS) potential. The long tail behaviour which is the main characteristic of the halo nuclei are well generated in comparison with experimental data. The calculated size radii are in good agreement with experimental values. The elastic electron scattering form factors of the C0 component are also c
... Show MoreA mathematical model was proposed to study the microkinetics of esterification reaction of oleic acid with ethanol over prepared HY zeolite catalyst. The catalyst was prepared from Iraqi kaolin source and its properties were characterized by different techniques. The esterification was done under different temperature (40 to 70˚C) with 6:1 for molar ratio of ethanol to oleic acid and 5 % catalyst loading.
The microkinetics study was done over two period of time each period was examined individually to calculate the reaction rate constant and activation energy. The impact of the mass transfer resistance to the reactant was also investigated; two different studies have been accomplished to do this purpose.
&nb
... Show MoreThe global oil market is one of the most important markets in the world and occupies especially for countries consuming and producing countries, and the status of understanding of the mechanism for determining prices in the market help to stand on many factors affecting oil demand and supply of oil and geopolitical factors, climate and alternative sources of energy .. etc. factors, and that the main objective of the research is to study the causes and results left behind by the oil price shocks in the world market, and the movement of these factors be through a cycle of energy that explain the strength of competition between these factors and their effects on prices, when demand increases evolution Large image leads to significan
... Show MoreThe present study conducted to study epipelic algae in the Tigris River within Baghdad city for one year from September 2011 to August 2012 due to the importance role of benthic algae in lotic ecosystems. Five sites have been chosen along the river. A total of 154 species of epipelic algae was recorded belongs to 45 genera, where Bacillariophyceae (Diatoms) was the dominant groups followed by Cyanophyceae and Chlorophyceae. The numbers of common types in three sites were 47 species. Bacillariophyceae accounted 88.31% of the total number of epipelic algae, followed by Cyanophyceae 7.14 % and Chlorophyceae 4.55%. A 85 species (29 genera) recorded in site 1, 103 species (34 genera) in site2, 112 species (35 genera) in site3, 96 species
... Show MoreThis study concerned with phytochemical investigation and methods of extraction and separation of active constituents from Valeriana officinalis plant cultivated in Iraq. Due to the large number of active constituents in Valeriana officinalis, it was necessary to make analytical study of its constituents to determine the chemical nature of these constituents and then determine the main classes (terpenes and iridoids) using chemical reagents specific for each class. Different organic solvents like ethanol (70%) used in soxhlet apparatus and hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol were used separately to extract the main active constituents by maceration. Through comparison between these solvents using thin layer chromatograph
... Show MoreThe main parameters and methods influencing the removal of Gentian Violet (GV) dye from aqueous media were investigated using a stachy plant in this study. The surface of the stachy plant was determined using FTIR spectra. Adsorption is influenced by the adsorbent's characteristic groups. The research took into account the usual conditions for GV dye adsorption by the stachy plant, such as the impact of contact time. Mass dosage , after 0.3 g the amount of adsorbed dye declines. Study pH and ionic strength, the results obtained showed that at pH 3 the largest adsorption of (GV) was seen, while at pH 9, the lowest adsorption was observed at 298 K, the adsorption kinetics and equilibrium constants were achieved, and the equ
... Show MoreA mathematical model was proposed to study the microkinetics of esterification reaction of oleic acid with ethanol over prepared HY zeolite catalyst. The catalyst was prepared from Iraqi kaolin source and its properties were characterized by different techniques. The esterification was done under different temperature (40 to 70˚C) with 6:1 for molar ratio of ethanol to oleic acid and 5 % catalyst loading. The microkinetics study was done over two period of time each period was examined individually to calculate the reaction rate constant and activation energy. The impact of the mass transfer resistance to the reactant was also investigated; two different studies have been accomplished to do this purpose. The e
... Show MoreExperimental and numerical studies have been conducted on the effects of bed roughness elements such as cubic and T-section elements that are regularly half-channel arrayed on one side of the river on turbulent flow characteristics and bed erosion downstream of the roughness elements. The experimental study has been done for two types of bed roughness elements (cubic and T-section shape) to study the effect of these elements on the velocity profile downstream the elements with respect to different water flow discharges and water depths. A comparison between the cubic and T-section artificial bed roughness showed that the velocity profile downstream the T-section increased in smooth side from the river and decrease in the rough side
... Show More