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
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Enhancing asphalt binder performance against anticipated distresses is a critical focus in pavement engineering. This study investigates the synergistic influence of nano titanium dioxide (NT) and nano zinc oxide (NZ) on asphalt binder performance. Nine NT:NZ combinations (1:1 to 3:3) were prepared with 1–3% by binder weight, in addition to a reference binder (RB). The performance test program included; conventional tests (penetration, softening point, viscosity, and ductility), Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR) for performance grading, Multiple Stress Creep Recovery (MSCR) for rutting evaluation, and Linear Amplitude Sweep (LAS) for fatigue resistance. Furthermore, Statistical analysis (ANOVA) was performed to determine the significa
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Sustainable agriculture requires eco-friendly inputs to improve crop productivity while reducing reliance on chemicals. Coco peat enhances root growth and nutrient availability, while fermented fish waste and sugarcane juice provide essential nutrients and growth stimulants. To further evaluate, a study was carried out during the fall season of 2024–2025 at University of Baghdad – Al-Jadiryah campus. Following standard field preparation, cauliflower (Brassica oleracea cv. Casper) saplings were transplanted on October 15, 2024, into raised beds in double rows (75 cm × 40 cm). The trial was conducted as a 5×3 factorial experiment in a split-plot RCBD, with coco peat as the main plot and foliar sprays as subplot. The main plot co
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Diabetes Mellitus is a group of metabolic diseases characterized by increasing of glucose level in plasma compared with normal value (hyperglycemia). This disease also causes elevation of lipid profile levels except HDL (High density lipoproteins) which increased relatively. The effects of the polyphenolic mixture (catechins, epicatechins, procyanidin B1, procyanidin B2 and procyanidin C1) on total cholesterol (TC), triacylglycerol (TG), high density lipoprotein (HDL) and low density lipoprotein (LDL) were studied in (30) streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice with (20-25)gm weight. Mice were given (30 mg/mL) of Polyphenolic Cocoa beans Extracts (CE) once daily for (7) days before Streptozotocin STZ injection and for (21 day) there after. A
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Azo-Schiff base compounds (L1 and L2) have been synthesized from the reaction of m-hydroxy benzoic acid with 1,5-dimethyl-3-[2-(5-methyl-1H-indol-3-yl)-ethylimino]-2-phenyl-2,3- dihydro-1H-pyrazol-4-ylamine and with 3-[2-(1H-indol-3-yl)-ethylimino]-1,5-dimethyl-2-phenyl- 2,3-dihydro-1H-pyrazol-4-ylamine. The free ligands and their complexes were characterized based on elemental analysis, determination of metal, molar conductivity, (1H, 13C) NMR, UV–vis, FT-IR, mass spectra and thermal analysis (TGA). The molar conductance data revealed that all the complexes are non-electrolytes. The study of complex formation via molar ratio in DMF solution has been investigated and results were consistent to those found in the solid complexes with a rat
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This study, which was conducted in the city of Mosul, through collected 1200 samples from the stool of patients with diarrhea attending hospitals and private clinics for the period from the beginning of January 2019 to the end of December 2019, those whose ages ranged from less than a year-60 year, and for both sexes and by reality 700 samples stool for males and 500 samples stool for females. Samples were collected in clean, sterile, and sealed 40ml plastic bottles. Patient information is noted, name of the parasite, history, sex, age, address. The result showed that climate and temperature have a significant effect on increase the incidence of intestinal parasites through the direct effect on the increase in infection rate. This effect wa
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Acromegaly is a rare disease produce generalize and serious alteration in the patient with active disease. Many of these patients are also diabetic. Many analytes, hormones, markers are change in these disease. The objective of study is to assess the modification in a number of parameters that changed during the acromegaly as a result of excess in GH and IGF1 levels. The study included 36 patients and 38 healthy controls, paired by sex and age and BMI. Serum concentration of GH and the other parameters including (insulin, glucose, lipid profile, uric acid ) were determined by biochemical method .Compared to controls, acromegalic patients had increased levels of GH, insulin, glucose, triglyceride, very low density lipoprotein(VLDL) (p<0.05)
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