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 influence of bias current on the bandwidth of chaotic signals in semiconductor lasers by optical feedback has been studied experimentally and numerically. The measured data reveal that the bandwidth increase when the system becomes chaotic and this chaotic signal has a broadband spectrum so it can be used as a carrier for the quantum key. Mixing chaotic signal and quantum key make a very small change in chaotic bandwidth that does not affect the security of data transmitted.
Background: Periodontal diseases are one of the major dental pathologies that affect human populations worldwide at high prevalence rates The term periodontal disease usually refers only to plaque related inflammatory disease of the dental supporting tissues. Mouth rinses which act as an anti-plaque agents mostly used as adjuncts to oral hygiene. Aims of the study: To Estimate and compare the effects of Aloe vera relative to chlorhexidine on the clinical periodontal parameters (plaque index, gingival index, bleeding on probing). Material and method: A total of 44 subjects with plaque-induced gingivitis, baseline of data were collected for (PLI, GI, and BOP) and underwent oral hygiene instruction, scaling and polishing, then divided into:
... Show MoreSpinach, Spinacia oleracea L is a popular vegetable belonging to the family Chenopodiaceae. This study was concerned with extraction of compounds in Iraqi spinach leaves, preliminary phytochemical evaluation, identification of two biological important flavonols, quercetin and kaempferol in spinach leaves and evaluation of the protective effect of aqueous spinach extract on methotrexate (MTX) induced hepatotoxicity in rats. The percentage yield of extraction procedure, identification of spinach by chemical tests and identification of flavonols by thin layer chromatography (TLC) and High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) were fully described in this study. The results indicate that the percentage of quarce
... Show MoreAssimilation is defined ,by many phoneticians like Schane ,Roach ,and many others, as a phonological process when there is a change of one sound into another because of neighboring sounds.This study investigates the phoneme assimilation as a phonological process in English and Arabic and it is concerned specifically with the differences and similarities in both languages. Actually ,this study reflects the different terms which are used in Arabic to refer to this phenomenon and in this way it shows whether the term 'assimilation ' can have the same meaning of 'idgham' in Arabic or not . Besides, in Arabic , this phenomenon is discussed from&nb
... Show MoreCreatinine and Schiff`s bases are well known for their diverse range of biological activities and are thought to be emerging and useful therapeutic targets for the treatment of several diseases. The present work was aimed at the synthesis of new imidazolidine-4-one, thiazolidine-4-one, and oxazolidine-4-one derivatives derived from creatinine and to illustrate their influence on a colon cancer cell line and assess their antioxidant activity. Creatinine was reacted with α-chloroethyl acetate to produce 2-ethyl acetate creatinine 1. Then, the reaction of compound 1 with n-propyl bromide afforded N-propyl-2-ethylacetate creatinine 2. Compound 2
... Show MoreScattering and Absorption Efficiencies of Si-Ag Coaxial nanowire (NWs) were simulated using Mie-Lorentz scattering approach. The thickness of Ag shell was fixed at around 10 nm with Si core diameter of (10, 20, 30 and 40) nm. Scattering Efficiencies and Absorption Efficiencies of core-shell nanowire as a function of wavelength (300-2000 nm) within various core diameters were calculated. The study shows a remarkable behavior of scattering for un-polarized light in Silicon nanowire (core only) with wavelength of (320- 500nm). In other words, adding Ag shell has decreased the scattering efficiency of core-shell nanowire for all diameters.
Background: This study was conducted to assess the effects of various beverages on the shear bond strength of light-cured orthodontic composite used to bond stainless steel orthodontic brackets on human teeth and to determine the site of bonding failure of this material. Materials and Methods: Fifty extracted human premolars were selected and randomly divided into five equal groups each with 10 teeth according to the beverage type (Control, One Tiger, Milk, Green tea and Coffee). After bonding, the teeth were immersed in specific beverages for 5 minutes twice daily with equal intervening intervals then washed and stored in distilled water at 37º C for the reminder of the day. The process was carried out for 30 days. The samples were then
... Show MoreIn vivo study revealed that ZnO nanoparticles treatment of Streptococcus SPP contaminated injured skin showed good prognosis and good healing process include complete regeneration of the epithelial cells of the epidermis and increase of cellulartiy of the dermal content compared with untreated group. In conclusion, treatment of S. pyogenes infected skin with Zinc oxide nanoparticles concentration (2 mg/ml) limit the skin damage and localized the lesion to the incision site with good healing process
This study aims to determine the effect of x-ray radiation resulting from solar flares in high-frequency radio wave communications through the ionosphere and to study the radio blackout events that occur over Iraq, located within (38,28) latitude, and (38,49) longitude. Using X-ray data during strong X flares and radio wave absorption data across the D ionosphere for 10 years from 2012 to 2021. The study concluded that there were 43 events of x-flare, most of which were during years of high solar activity. All of these flares produced X-rays that caused a radio blackout, R3 and only 13 events affected Iraq.