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
This study is the first investigation in Iraq dealing with genotyping of
Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) infection is associated with broad spectrum of clinical manifestationsdepending on the immune status of the host, To analyze their possible role in the complication ofautoimmune hepatitis, we investigated (30) female patients with autoimmune hepatitis type-1 of(10-40)years and 25 healthy female of same ages(control groups). Both groups were carried outto measure the levels of EBV-CA IgM, IgG Ab, EBV-EA IgM, IgG Ab, and EBV-NA IgM, IgGAb using indirect immunoflourescent assay (IFAT).The prevalence of EBV-CA IgM, IgG Ab were(10%,20%) and EBV-EA IgM, IgG Ab were (10% and20%) respectively, while the prevalence ofEBV-NA IgG Ab was( 3.33%) and there are no prevalence of EBV-NA IgM Ab. There weresignificant differences (P
... Show MoreDue to the wide distribution through the Iranian Plateau, especially in its western parts adjacent to Iraq’s northeastern borders, the occurrence of Brandt’s Hedgehog
The Kurds' positions were characterized by insistence on their rights during the monarchy and choosing various solutions to obtain independence. After the revolution of July 14, 1958, the Kurds welcomed it, and the leaders of the Kurdistan Democratic Party sent a telegram to the Free Officers Organization congratulating them on the new era in order to build sound and correct relations between the two parties. However, the military conflict was renewed between the Iraqi government and the Kurds and continued even after the coup of February 8, 1963, and all the subsequent negotiating and peaceful attempts to resolve the Kurdish problem until 1966. It was a state of double contradiction for both parties that thwarted the peaceful attempts. The
... Show MoreThis research deals with the most important heritage in Iraq, which are the Iraqi marshes, especially Abu Zarag marsh in Al-Nasiriyah city south of Iraq. The research is divided into two parts. The first part deals with evaluating the water quality parameters of Abu Zarag marsh for the period from December 2018 to April 2019 which is the flooding season. The parameters are Temperature, pH, Electrical Conductivity, Total Dissolved Solids, Alkalinity, Total Hardness, Turbidity, Dissolved Oxygen, Sulfate, Nitrate. The second part is a comparison between the water quality parameters during the recent period with the same period during the previous years from 2014 to 2019. The results are
In this study, the use of non-thermal plasma theory to remove toxic gases emitted from a vehicle was experimentally investigated. A non-thermal plasma reactor was constructed in the form of a cylindrical tube made of Pyrex glass. Two stainless steel rods were placed inside the tube to generate electric discharge and plasma condition, by connecting with a high voltage power supply (up to 40 kV). The reactor was used to remove the contaminants of a 1.25-liter 4-cylinder engine at ambient conditions. Several tests have been carried out for a ranging speed from 750 to 4,500 rpm of the engine and varying voltages from 0 to 32 kV. The gases entering the reactor were examined by a gas analyzer and the gases concentration ratio
... Show MoreThis research is a continued efforts for a project on the fire tube boiler control for Al Rasheed edible oil factory. The aim is to enhance the control system with new integral control one. A functional blocks diagram (FBD) was built and simulated. With Schneider smart relays, FBD differs than ladder logic programming in which the PID option is active. An extensive work was done to understand the operation sequence, emergency shutdown, and faults causing the trips. A control program was designed to control logical sequence of operation. Furthermore temperature is controlled via cascade control with fuel and air controllers. The temperature controller output is send as remote set point to the fuel controller in a serial cascade manner. The f
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