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 main objectives of this study were investigating the effects of the maximum size of coarse Attapulgite aggregate and micro steel fiber content on fresh and some mechanical properties of steel fibers reinforced lightweight self-compacting concrete (SFLWSCC). Two series of mixes were used depending on maximum aggregate size (12.5 and 19) mm, for each series three different steel fibers content were used (0.5 %, 1%, and 1.5%). To evaluate the fresh properties, tests of slump flow, T500 mm, V funnel time, and J ring were carried out. Tests of compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, flexural tensile strength, and calculated equilibrium density were done to evaluate mechanical properties. For reference mixes, the
... Show MoreA factorial experiment was applied with four replicates on rosemary plants (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) grown in pots inside the glasshouse of the Department of Biology, College of Science, Salahaddin University, Erbil, Iraq, during April, 2019 to July, 2020, to determine the effects of soil moisture content ( SM1: 100% and SM2: 60% field capacity), nitrogen fertilizer (N1: 100, N2: 200 and N3: 300kg/hectare), and magnesium fertilizer (Mg1: 0.0, Mg2: 30 and Mg3: 60kg/hectare) and their interactions on some growth characteristics and essential oil content of rosemary plants. Two cuttings were taken from rosemary shoots (on March, 2020 and July, 2020) after 12 and 15 months of planting respectively. Results showed that cutting 1:
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Objectives Dental implant is a revolution in dentistry; some shortages are still a focus of research. This study use long duration of radiofrequency (RF)–magnetron sputtering to coat titanium (Ti) implant with hydroxyapatite (HA) to obtain a uniform, strongly adhered in a few micrometers in thickness. Materials and Methods Two types of substrates, discs and root form cylinders were prepared using a grade 1 commercially pure (CP) Ti rod. A RF–magnetron sputtering device was used to coat specimens with HA. Magnetron sputtering was set at 150 W for 22 hours at 100°C under continuous argon gas flow and substrate rotation at 10 rpm. Coat properties were evaluated via field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), scanning electro
... Show MoreThe earth's surface comprises different kinds of land cover, water resources, and soil, which create environmental factors for varied animals, plants, and humans. Knowing the significant effects of land cover is crucial for long-term development, climate change modeling, and preserving ecosystems. In this research, the Google Earth Engine platform and freely available Landsat imagery were used to investigate the impact of the expansion and degradation in urbanized areas, watersheds, and vegetative cover on the land surface temperature in Baghdad from 2004 to 2021. Land cover indices such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Water Index, and Normalized Difference Built-up Index (NDVI, NDWI, an
... Show MoreJudicial jurisprudence is one of the important legal solutions to address the shortcomings of legislation. Throughout its long history, human societies have known many cases in which the judge finds himself facing a legislative vacuum in addition to civil legal texts that are difficult for the judge to implement due to ambiguity or contradiction, which requires diligence. To rule on resolving disputes before him in order not to deny justice, but the judge in his jurisprudence was not absolute, but rather bound by certain controls represented by observing the wisdom of legislation on the one hand and taking into account the nature of the texts on the other side, and from here this research came to shed light on the juri
... Show MoreJudicial jurisprudence is one of the important legal solutions to address the shortcomings of legislation. Throughout its long history, human societies have known many cases in which the judge finds himself facing a legislative vacuum in addition to civil legal texts that are difficult for the judge to implement due to ambiguity or contradiction, which requires diligence. To rule on resolving disputes before him in order not to deny justice, but the judge in his jurisprudence was not absolute, but rather bound by certain controls represented by observing the wisdom of legislation on the one hand and taking into account the nature of the texts on the other side, and from here this research came to shed light on the jurisprudence and its cont
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