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
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin with antioxidant and DNA protecting properties , Levofloxacin is a member of the fluoroquinolone drug class, Its broad-spectrum bactericidal effect affects both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.
The goal of the study is to analyze the haematology analysis in rats received levofloxacin and show the preventive impact of vitamin D3 by analyzing the haematology parameters: packed cell volume (PCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration(MCHC),haemoglobin (HB), red blood cell (RBC), mean corpuscular volume (MCV),meancorpuscular haemoglobin(MCH), WBC ,differential WBC, and Platelets.
The study included 42 rats divided into 6 groups each group 7 rats. group I negative control
... Show MoreGum Arabic is a natural gummy exudate gained from the trees of Acacia species (Acacia senegal and Acacia seyal), Family: Fabaceae. Gum Arabic considers as a dietary fiber with a high percentage of carbohydrates and low protein content. Sugars arabinose and ribose were originally discovered and isolated from gum Arabic and it is representing the original source of these sugars. A gum emanation from trees occurs under stress conditions such as heat, poor soil fertility, drought, and injury. Mainly gum is produced in belt region of Africa, mainly Sudan, Chad, and Nigeria. In the food industry, it is used in confectionery; in the pharmaceutical industry, it is used as emulsifier, film coating and others. Traditionally the g
... Show MoreAbstract Inflammation of periodontal tissues is the consequence of interaction between periodontal pathogens and immune system. This is associated with increased expression of inflammatory cytokines, which may exert destructive effect to the periodontal tissues when released over long period. The aim of this study was to chronologically track the homeostasis of oral keratinocytes following removal of periodontal pathogens. This was done by investigating expression of selected inflammatory markers and integrity of epithelial monolayers in vitro. Rat oral keratinocytes were stimulated with heat-killed Fusobacterium nucleatum and Porphyromonas gingivalis over 7-days then bacteria were washed away and epithelial cells re-cultured for 3-
... Show MoreThis Study was conducted out at the Ministry of Agriculture's Poultry Research Station/Animal Resources Department/Agricultural Research Center. To see how body weight (BW) and leptin hormone (LEP) levels in breeder blood affect fertility and hatchability. 140 Iraqi local laying chickens (120 females + 20 males) aged 28 weeks were used in the study. Following the numbering of females, the birds were grown in individual cages and dispersed sequentially on cages. The experiment was divided into three periods, each lasting 28 days, during which the breeder's live body weight was recorded and divided into two categories (greater than 1.5 kg and less than 1.5 kg), and blood samples were collected at the end of each period to determine th
... Show MoreZnTe possesses the proper optoelectronic properties as a candidate for device development. The structure and optical properties of ZnTe semiconductor thin films of 500 nm were studied using thermal evaporation technique. The influence of annealing temperatures on ZnTe thin films in the range ( R.T - 473 K). XRD and surface morphological analyses are used to examine the films. The ZnTe films are comparatively polycrystalline and cubic in phase, according to the XRD analysis. with a lattice constant of 0.61 nm upon an (111) orientation. The intensities of all the peaks rapidly increase though they show the same tendencies; it shows the crystallinity of the films becomes higher crystal size diameters (from 8.41 to 12.18nm) both increas
... Show MoreThe present study aims to give some details about the normal anatomical and histological structure of the liver, pancreas and gall bladder in Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus, 1758 and Mesopotamichthys sharpeyi (Günther, 1874). Anatomical results revealed that the liver of C. carpio is a reddish-brown in color, located in the anterior part of abdominal cavity and dispersed between most of the intestines, which is divided into two lobes; while in M. sharpeyi the liver is light brown in color located in the anterior part of abdominal cavity and extends to the end of the intestinal tract with two lobs. The gallbladder situated in the right side of the liver in both species. Histological results in both species showed that the liver consists
... Show MoreSeveral new derivatives of 1, 2, 4-triazoles linked to phthalimide moiety were synthesized through following multisteps. The first step involved preparation of 2, 2-diphthalimidyl ethanoic acid [2] via reaction of two moles of phthalimide with dichloroacetic acid. Treatment of the resulted imide with ethanol in the second step afforded 2, 2-diphthalimidyl ester [3] which inturn was introduced in reaction with hydrazine hydrate in the third step, producing the corresponding hydrazide derivative [4]. The synthesized hydazide was introduced in different synthetic paths including treatment with carbon disulfide in alkaline solution then with hydrazine hydrate to afford the new 1, 2, 4-triazole [10]. Reaction of compound [10] with different alde
... Show MoreBackground: Osteoporosis is an extra-articular complication of rheumatoid arthritis that results in increased risk of fractures and associated morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs. Objective: To evaluate changes in bone mineral density in a sample of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients on biological (anti tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha) and non-biological agent disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Patients and Methods: A cross sectional study enrolled 60 RA patients diagnosed by rheumatologist according to the 2010 American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism (2010 ACR/EULAR) classification criteria for RA. Thirty patient on biological agent (anti TNF alpha) and 30 patient on non-biological agent (D
... Show MoreThirty one samples of gum swabs were collected from patients with tooth caries (5-30 years old) from the College of Science (Biology department )- University of Baghdad- Iraq for the period from October 2018 to December 2018. , The samples were transported, after inoculation in a transport media (nutrient broth), to the laboratory of the College of Science and then cultured on mannitol salt agar and blood agar). The isolates belonging to Staphylococcus spp. were identified by biochemical tests and Vitek 2 compact system, while the more antibiotic resistant isolates were identified by using Polymerase Chain Reaction(ï´¾PCR) and sequencing of 16SrRNA . The results showed sharp UV absorption peaks at 330 - 340nm and AFM at 5
... Show MoreMetalloendo peptidase is a neutral endopeptidase that cleaves peptides at the amino side of hydrophobic residues and inactivates several peptide hormones, including atrial natriuretic factor, giucagon, enkephalin, substance p, neurotensin, oxytocin, and bradykinin. It is also a major enzyme for the degradation of beta-amyloid. This study aimed to measure enzyme activity and compare it with other biochemical changes in sera patients with diabetic nephropathy. The study included 35 pathological samples of people with diabetic nephropathy, 24 samples from males and 11 samples from females, as well as the same number of healthy people as a comparison group of 15 males, 20 females, with the ages of both groups of patients with diabetic nephropat
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