Improvement of fertility parameters with Tribulus Terrestris and Anacyclus Pyrethrum treatment in male rats.

OBJECTIVE: Anacyclus Pyrethrum (AP) and Tribulus Terrestris (TT) have been reported as male infertility treatment in several studies; however, in Iranian traditional medicine these two plants are prescribed simultaneously. In this study, we aimed to determine the effects of AP and TT extracts both separately and simultaneously on the male Wistar rat fertility parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 32 male Wistar rats were divided into 4 groups: Control, TT, AP, and AT treated groups. Treatment continued for 25 days and rats were weighed daily. Their testes were dissected for histological studies. Sperm analysis including sperm count, viability and motility were performed. Serum was obtained to evaluate testosterone, LH and FSH levels. Histological studies were conducted to study Leydig, and Sertoli cells, spermatogonia and spermatid cell numbers, and to measure seminiferous diameter and epithelium thickness. RESULTS: Sperm count increased in all the treatment groups. Sperm viability and motility in AT and AP groups were elevated. TT and AT groups showed signifi cantly increased testosterone level compared to control group (P=004, P=0.000, respectively) and TT, AP and AT treatment groups showed increased LH level (P=0.002, P=0.03 and P=0.000, respectively) compared to control, while only AT group showed increased FSH (p=0.006) compared to control. Histological studies showed signifi cant increase of spermatogonia, Leydig and Sertoli cell numbers and epithelial thickness in AT group compared to other groups. All the treatment groups had higher number of Leydig, spermatogonia and spermatid cells. CONCLUSION: TT and AP improved sexual parameters; however, their simultaneous administration had higher improving effects on studied parameters.

Improvement of fertility parameters with tribulus terrestris and anacyclus pyrethrum treatment in male rats

ABSTRACT Objective Anacyclus Pyrethrum (AP) and Tribulus Terrestris (TT) have been reported as male infertility treatment in several studies; however, in Iranian traditional medicine these two plants are prescribed simultaneously. In this study, we aimed to determine the effects of AP and TT extracts both separately and simultaneously on the male Wistar rat fertility parameters. Materials and Methods 32 male Wistar rats were divided into 4 groups: Control, TT, AP, and AT treated groups. Treatment continued for 25 days and rats were weighed daily. Their testes were dissected for histological studies. Sperm analysis including sperm count, viability and motility were performed. Serum was obtained to evaluate testosterone, LH and FSH levels. Histological studies were conducted to study Leydig, and Sertoli cells, spermatogonia and spermatid cell numbers, and to measure seminiferous diameter and epithelium thickness. Results Sperm count increased in all the treatment groups. Sperm viability and motility in AT and AP groups were elevated. TT and AT groups showed significantly increased testosterone level compared to control group (P=004, P=0.000, respectively) and TT, AP and AT treatment groups showed increased LH level (P=0.002, P=0.03 and P=0.000, respectively) compared to control, while only AT group showed increased FSH (p=0.006) compared to control. Histological studies showed significant increase of spermatogonia, Leydig and Sertoli cell numbers and epithelial thickness in AT group compared to other groups. All the treatment groups had higher number of Leydig, spermatogonia and spermatid cells. Conclusion TT and AP improved sexual parameters; however, their simultaneous administration had higher improving effects on studied parameters.

Synthesis of citrophilus mealybug sex pheromone using chrysanthemol extracted from Pyrethrum ( Tanacetum cinerariifolium).

A commercial pyrethrum extract was used as a source of chrysanthemol for the synthesis of the citrophilus mealybug ( Pseudococcus calceolariae) sex pheromone. The chrysanthemic acid esters (pyrethrins I) were isolated and subsequently reduced to obtain chrysanthemol, which was used for ester pheromone synthesis. Field tests showed that the pheromone synthesized using plant-derived chrysanthemol was as attractive to male P. calceolariae as the pheromone obtained using a commercial isomeric chrysanthemol mixture.

Botanical insecticides, deterrents, and repellents in modern agriculture and an increasingly regulated world.

Botanical insecticides have long been touted as attractive alternatives to synthetic chemical insecticides for pest management because botanicals reputedly pose little threat to the environment or to human health. The body of scientific literature documenting bioactivity of plant derivatives to arthropod pests continues to expand, yet only a handful of botanicals are currently used in agriculture in the industrialized world, and there are few prospects for commercial development of new botanical products. Pyrethrum and neem are well established commercially, pesticides based on plant essential oils have recently entered the marketplace, and the use of rotenone appears to be waning. A number of plant substances have been considered for use as insect antifeedants or repellents, but apart from some natural mosquito repellents, little commercial success has ensued for plant substances that modify arthropod behavior. Several factors appear to limit the success of botanicals, most notably regulatory barriers and the availability of competing products (newer synthetics, fermentation products, microbials) that are cost-effective and relatively safe compared with their predecessors. In the context of agricultural pest management, botanical insecticides are best suited for use in organic food production in industrialized countries but can play a much greater role in the production and postharvest protection of food in developing countries.

Especies de nematodos fitoparasíticos en Venezuela / Plant parasitic nematode species in Veneuela

Se presenta un perfil del estado actual de la nematología agrícola en Venezuela incluyendo una lista de las 115 especies de nematodos fitoparasíticos identificadas. Las especies más dañinas parecen ser Bursaphelenchus (=Rhadinaphelenchus) cocophillus, Ditylenchus dipsaci, Globodera rostochiensis, G.pallida, Meloidogyne incognita, M.javanica, M.exigua, Mhapla, Pratylenchus brachyurus, P.penetrans, P.scribneri, P.zeae, Radopholus similis, Rotylenchulus reniformis y Tylenchulus semipenetrans. Se discuten brevemente los efectos dañinos de Meloidogyne spp. y de otros nematodos fitroparasíticos

Chagas disease vector control in Tupiza, Southern Bolivia

Heavy domestic and peridomestic infestations of Triatoma infestans were controlled in two villages in southern Bolivia by the application of deltramethrin SC25 (2,5 per cent suspension concentrate) at a target dose of 25 mg a.i.m². Actual applied dose was monitored by HPLC analysis of filter papers placed at various heights on the house walls, and was shown to range from 0 to 59.6 about a mean of 28.5 mg a.i./m². Wall bioassays showed high mortality of T.infestans during the first month after the application of deltamethrin. Mortality declined to zero as summer temperatures increased, but reappeared with the onset of the following winter. In contrast, knockdown was apparent throughtout the trial, showing no discernible temperature dependence. House infestation rates, measured by manual sampling and use of paper sheets to collect bug faeces, declined from 79 per cent at the beginning of the trial to zero at the 6 month evalution. All but one of the houses were still free of T.infestans at the final evaluation 12 months after spraying, although a small number of bugs were found at this time in 5 of 355 peridomestic dependencies. Comparative cist studies endorse the recommendation of large-scale application of deltamethrin or pyrethroid of similar cost-effectiveness, as a means to eliminate domestic T.infestans populations in order to interrupt transmission of Chagas disease.