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
An Investigation of estimated Mechanical Properties of AL-Alloys 2024-T3, which is the most commonly used in industrial applications, been established experimentally. A new novel Plasma Peening techniques had applied for the whole surfaces of the material by CNC-Plasma machine for 48 specimen, and then a new investigation were toke over to figure the amount of change in mechanical properties and estimated fatigue life. It found that improvement was showing a nonlinear behavior according to peening duration time, speed, peening distance, peening number, and amount of effected power on the depth of the material thickness. The major improvement was at medium speed long duration time normal peening distance. Which shows up t
... Show MoreOptical properties and surface morphology of pure and doped Polystyrene films with different divalent metals of Zn, Cu and Sn and one concentration percentage have been studied. Measurements of UV-Vis spectrophotometer and AFM spectroscopy were determined. The absorbance, transmittance and reflectance spectrums were used to study different optical parameters such as absorption coefficient, refractive index, extinction coefficient and energy gap in the wavelengths rang 200-800nm. These parameters have increased in the presence of the metals. The change in the calculated values of energy gaps with doping metals content has been investigated in terms of PS matrix structural modification. The value of opt
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Multi-drug-resistant uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) is considered a significant challenge due to its ability to resist antibiotics and form biofilms. UPEC biofilm formers are well protected and largely inaccessible to antibiotics, which leads to persistent infections and evasion of the host immune system. Understanding how ciprofloxacin and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole affect biofilm formation is essential for improving treatment strategies for urinary tract infections (UTIs). A total of 76 UPEC isolates were obtained from Iraqi patients and identified using morphological and biochemical characteristics, as well as the Vitek®-2 Compact system. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were determined using the Vitek®-2 system, whic
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Anatomy studies were carried out in the experimental field, College of Agriculture, University of Baghdad to have better understanding of the influence of mulching with black polyethylene sheets, organic manure and chemical fertilizer on the anatomy changes in potato shoot and leaves tissues. Results showed that leaves area, leaves area index and chlorophyll percentage were significantly increased by using mulching and chemical fertilizer by (7463.70 cm2, 3.97, 45.33 SPAD units) respectively. Also this treatment significantly increased total stomata number and in both lower and upper sides of the leaf by (957,721,176) stomata /mm2 respectively. But by using mulching treatment with organic manure significantly increased vessels and sieve t
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ABSTRACT The isolation and characterization of (27) isolate of extreme halophilic bacteria was performed ninteen isolate belonged to the genus Halobacterium which included Hb.halobium. Hb. salinarium, Hb. volcanii. Growth curve and generation time in logarthmic phase was measured and found to be (12.8hr±0.32), (11.2hr±0.2), (9.8hr±0.87), respectivaly. Effect of various concentrations of NaCl, KCI, NH4Cl and MgSO4.7H2O was studied, NaCl was essential for the rod shape rapid growth Rat and pigmentation. Less than 1% concentration caused lysis of bacteria. Yeast extract was the best carbone source as compared with glucose and casamino acid.
This experiment was carried out in one of the fields (A) affiliated to the College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences / University of Baghdad, for the spring season 2021, On hybrid tomato plants (Mayai Mayai) to test flower viability, using two factors, the first was three levels of irrigation interval (2, 4, 6) days, and the second factor three concentrations of compound Nano fertilizer with concentrations (0, 1.5, 2.5) gm liter-1, so that the number of treatments is 9 treatments and three replications, the number of experimental units is 27 experimental units distributed randomly according to the random drawing method to ensure reducing experimental error and obtaining the most accurate results. A factorial experiment 3 x 3 x 3 was carr
... Show MoreObjective: One of the most important practical deficiencies of present denture base materials is fracture, therefore many
attempts have been made to reinforce of the repaired denture base resin. A desirable objective for this service is to obtain
optimum strength for repairs, which can be achieved by making available a good bond between original and repaired
materials.
Methodology: The present study was carried out to evaluate and compare the transverse strength of acrylic specimens
repaired by two different materials (hot-cure and cold-cure acrylic resin). A total of 50 specimens were prepared by hot
(40) repair: (10) by hot with retention bead, (10) by cold with retention bead and (10) repair by hot only, (10) repair