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
Background: The roles of AI in the academic community continue to grow, especially in the enhancement of learning outcomes and the improvement of writing quality and efficiency. Objectives: To explore in depth the experience of senior pharmacy students in using artificial intelligence for academic purposes. Methods: This qualitative study included face-to-face individual interviews with senior pharmacy students from March to May 2023 using a pre-planned interview guide of open-ended questions. All interviews were audio-recorded. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Results: The results were obtained from 15 in-depth face-to-face interviews with senior pharmacy students (5th and 4th years). Eight participants were male, an
... Show MoreThe current study included measuring the percent of protein in the extract of nematode Ascaridia galli that infect chickens, it was 1.157% and equivalent to 11.570 mg /L., as well as the amino acid analysis in the nematode A.galli by using a high-performance liquid chromatography technique (HPLC), as was detect five types for amino acids in this extract Leucine, Threonin, Serine, Methionine and Valine as the amount of these amino acids in the extract was as follows 132.973, 26.994, 10.453, 2.243 and 1.888 mg /L., respectively, and other amino acids which Glutamic, Histidine and Tyrosin did not exist in the nematode A.galli.
Adenosine deaminase (ADA; Ec: 3.5.4.4), 5´- Nucleotidase (5´– NT; Ec: 3.1.3.5), and AMP – amino hydrolase (AMP – deaminase AMPDA; Ec: 3.5.4.6) activities were measured in sera of ovarian cancer patients before surgery, and after chemotherapy. The results indicated that ADA specific activity increased significantly (P<0.05), while 5´-NT and AMPDA specific activity decreased significantly (P<0.05) in ovarian cancer patients before surgery in comparison with those of their corresponding control women and benign tumors groups. When the activities of these enzymes were measured after chemotherapy, a significant decrease (P<0.05) in ADA activity, and a significant increase (P<0.05) in 5´- NT and AMPDA activities w
... Show MoreThe purified frog skin peptides were tested on leukemic patients lymphocytes, which revealed effects of cytotoxicity. Four frogs (Rana ridibunda) were stimulated by single intra-peritoneal injection of norepinephrine-HCl . Five different peptides;1(18) A, 2(19) L, 3(20) I,4(21) E and 5(22) Y were isolated and quantified. The peptide 3(20)I had 5.87% of hemolysis, while healthy human lymphocytes cytotoxic activity was for 2(19)L with inhibition( -10.4%).All peptides were subjected to polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The results revealed peptides 1(18)A, 2(19)L, 3(20)I which appeared as low as 10 KDa marker. Theoretically, the whole polypeptide had a molecular weight 7488.61 Dalt
... Show MoreSome metal ions (Mn
+2
, Fe
+2
,Co
+2
,Ni
+2
,Cu
+2
, Cd
+2
and Hg
+2
) complexes of N-acetyl
Tryptophan( AcetrpH) and (2, 2′-bipyridine) (2, 2′-Bipy)have been synthesized and then
characterized on the basis of their FT-IR, UV-Vis spectroscopy, magneticsuscptibity
conductivity measurements and atomic absorption;from the results obtained and the propsed
molecular structure for these complexes as octahedral geometry,the following general formula
has been given for the prepared complexes.
[M
+n
(Acetrp)2(2, 2′-Bipy)].
Where M= Mn
+2
, Fe
+2
,Co
+2
,Ni
+2
,Cu
+2
, Cd
+2
,Hg
+2
(Acetrp)
-=Ligand ion(N-acetyl
The 3-aminoacetophenone and 4-aminoantipyrine were used as precursors to prepare new six ligands. The three new ligands (L1,L2 and L3) were synthesis by reacting one mole of 3-aminoacetophenone with one mole of (Acetyl chloride), (benzoyl chloride), (4-methoxybenzoyl chloride) and ammonium thiocyanat in acetone as a solvent, they are:- L1 (AAA) =[N-(3-acetylphenylcarbamothioyl)acetamide] L2 (BAA) =[N-(3-acetylphenylcarbamothioyl)benzamide] L3 (MAA) =[N-(3-acetylphenylcarbamothioyl)-4-methoxy benzamide] Also three new derivatives of 4-aminoantipyrine were synthesis by reacting one mole of 4-aminoantipyrine with one mole of (Acetyl chloride), (benzoyl chloride), (4-methoxybenzoyl chloride) and ammonium thio
... Show MoreThe current study was designed to investigate the histological structure of the cerebellum in the Iraqi frog
Antibiotic resistance is the major growing threat facing the pharmacological treatment of bacterial infections. Therefore, bioprospecting the medicinal plants could provide potential sources for antimicrobial agents. Mimusops, the biggest and widely distributed plant genus of family Sapotaceae, is used in traditional medicines due to its promising pharmacological activities. This study was conducted to elucidate the antimicrobial effect of three unexplored Mimusops spp. (M. kummel, M. laurifolia and M. zeyheri). Furthermore, the mechanisms underlying such antibacterial activity were studied. The Mimusops leaf extracts revealed significant antibacterial activities against the five tested bacter
... Show MoreAs the banking sector is a strong influence on the country's economic growth,The solid financial well-being of anybank does not mean only a guarantee for its investors, It is also important for both owners and workers and for theeconomy in all its joints.The elements of capital adequacy and quality of assets are important to the functioning of thebanking business.In this study, the research sample included four private banks. Quarterly data were used for the period(2011 - 2018).Moreover, data is also collected from articles, papers, the World Wide Web (the Internet) and specializedinternational journals.In this research, an effort was made to try to find out the effect of (the ratio of the capital owned todeposits on the value of the bank),
... Show MoreDensity functional theory calculations are employed to investigate the impact of edifenphos molecule on the reactivity and electronic sensitivity of pure calcium oxide (CaO) nanocluster. The strong adsorption of edifenphos molecule on CaO nanocluster occurs by the sulfur head of the adsorbate, and the amount of the energy of this adsorption is around − 84.40 kcal/mol. The adsorption of edifenphos molecules results in a decrease in the values of Eg of CaO from 4.67 to 3.56 eV, as well as an increase in the electrical conductance. Moreover, the work function of CaO nanocluster is significantly affected, which changes the current of the field emission electron. Eventually, the recovery time is calculated around 99 ms at ambient temperature f
... Show More