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 importance of specifying proper aggregate grading for achieving satisfactory performance in pavement applications has long been recognized. To improve the specifications for superior performance, there is a need to understand how differences in aggregate gradations within the acceptable limits may affect unbound aggregate base behavior. The effects of gradation on strength, modulus, and deformation characteristics of high-quality crushed rock base materials are described here. Two crushed rock types commonly used in constructing heavy-duty granular base layers in the State of Victoria, Australia, with three different gradations each were used in this study. The gradations used represent the lower, medium, and upper gradation li
... Show MoreA microbial desalination cell (MDC) is a new approach to bioelectrochemical systems. It provides a more sustainable way to electrical power production, saltwater desalination, and wastewater treatment at the same time. This study examined three operation modes of the MDC: chemical cathode, air cathode, and biocathode MDC, to give clear sight of this system's performance. The experimental work results for these three modes were recorded as power densities generation, saltwater desalination rates, and COD removal percentages. For the chemical cathode MDC, the power density was 96.8 mW/m2, the desalination rate was 84.08 ppm/hr, and the COD removal percentage was 95.94%. The air cathode MDC results were different
... Show MoreThis Study is conducted to evaluate effects of (leaves, fruits) powder and (oil, alcohol) extract of Coriander (Coriandrum sativum) plant on some biological and physiological aspects of House fly, Musca domestica at laboratory conditions. Result show that these preparations caused biological effects represented in high dead percentage in second instar, fed on different concentrations of food treated with them reached to 27.6, 55.3 at concentration 20% of leaf and fruit powder respectively and 67.3, 77.2% at 10% of oil and alcohol extract of fruit, respectively. Furthermore, study also show reduction in pupation and adults emergence percentage. However, leafs powder had slighter effect than powder and extract of fruit of tested plant. The st
... Show MoreBackground: The effect of garlic extracton fungal
growth and keratinolytic activity was studied in
Trichophytonmentagrophytes as one of the major
etiologic agents of human and animal dermatophytosis
in Baghdad and other parts of the World.
Objective: To investigated an alternative
antidermatophyte with minimum side effects which is
plant based and biodegradable natural product
Methods: Culture conditions for 30 isolates of T.
mentagrophytes isolated from human dermatophytosis
from both sexes with ages of 5-63 years in Central
Medical city for the period July 2009 to October 2009
were cultured on specific solid medium.
Results: The aqueous extract of garlic at various
concentrations inhibited the
Numerous integral and local electron density’s topological parameters of significant metal-metal and metal-ligand bonding interactions in a trinuclear tetrahydrido cluster [(Cp* Ir) (Cp Ru)2 (μ3-H) (μ-H)3]1 (Cp = η5 -C5Me5), (Cp* = η5 -C5Me4Et) were calculated and interpreted by using the quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM). The properties of bond critical points such as the delocalization indices δ (A, B), the electron density ρ(r), the local kinetic energy density G(r), the Laplacian of the electron density ∇2ρ(r), the local energy density
... Show MoreABSTRACT Background: Bracket rebonding is a common problem in orthodontics which may result in many drawbacks. The aims of this study were to evaluate the effects of application of two enamel protective agents “Icon†and “ProSeal†on shear bond strength before and after rebonding of stainless steel orthodontic brackets using conventional orthodontic adhesive and to assess the site of bond failure. Materials and methods: Fifty sound extracted human upper first premolar teeth were selected and randomly divided into two equal groups; the first time bonding and the rebonding groups (n=30). Each group was subdivided into control, Icon and ProSeal subgroups. The enamel protective agents were applied after etching (precondi
... Show MoreCondensation of 1,2- dibromo ethane with para hydroxy benzoic acid gave 1,2-Ethane-bis- 4-oxybenzoic [1]. This Compound was converted with the thionyl chloride to give 1,2-Ethane-bis- 4-oxybenzoyl chloride [2]. Reaction of compound [2] with thiosemicarbizades gave 1,2-Ethanebis[4-oxybenzoyl-thiosemicarbazide] [3] and opteined 1,2-Ethane-bis[3-mercapto-5-phenoxy- 1,2,4-triazole] [4] from treatment compound [3] with NaOH (4%) .The new compounds 1,2- Ethane-bis[3-(substituted thioacyl)-4-(substituted acyl)-5 phenoxy-1,2,4-triazole] [5a-d] and 1,2- Ethane-bis[3-(substituted alkylthio)-5 phenoxy-1,2,4-trizole] [5e-f] derived from compound [4] were synthesized and characterized by physical and spectral data. All the compounds [4], [5a-d] and [5e-
... Show MoreSynthesis and study liquid crystalline properties of new compounds with terminal groups of amides ([III]a-c,[IV]a-c and [VI]n), alkoxy series[V]n or ester with azo linkage ([IX]a-c and[X]a-c) containing thaizole ring. These series were synthesized by many steps starting from 4- hydroxyacetophenone or 4-aminoacetophenone. The synthesized compounds were characterized using melting points, FTIR, C.H.N.S analysis and for some of them 1H NMR spectroscopy. The liquid crystalline properties were studied by hot stage polarizing microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry DSC. All compounds of series [III]a-c,[IV]a-c and compounds [V]n showed enantiotropic liquid crystal. While the series [VI]n showed nematic mesomorphism except [VI]8 did not s
... 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
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