The story of "Yazdgerd Shahriar" in the Shahnameh refers to a kind of CAMPHOR named "Kafour-e Manthur" whose records vary in the Shahnameh manuscripts and printed editions. Considering the cultural background of the story, this kind of CAMPHOR has first been traced in Islamic and Arabic texts and then, using the information derived from geographic and medical texts, "Kafour-e Fansur" has been suggested as a more likely record.

A simple chemical vapor deposition technique at atmospheric pressure (APCVD) is adopted to synthesize the aligned arrays of functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (AMWCNTs) without using any carrier gas, at 230oC, 750oC and 850oC. CAMPHOR (C10H16O) is used as carbon source because this botanical hydrocarbon is chip and abundant which convert the CVD technique to a green method for production of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The oxygen atoms in CAMPHOR oxidize the amorphous carbons and create hydroxyl functional groups in AMWCNTs. The molecular structure of CAMPHOR lead to form hexagonal and pentagonal carbon rings which increase the growth rate and alignment of MWCNTs. In this work, AMWCNTs are grown on silicon substrate, copper, and quartz. The synthesized AMWCNTs are characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The SEM results show that the deposited CNTs are formed in vertical aligned arrays and each has a functional OH group which IS seen in FTIR spectroscopy results.

According to Iran's folk medicine, CAMPHOR, a crystalline ketone obtained from essential oils of Cinnamomum CAMPHORa, has both sexual behavior attenuating and enhancing properties. This study examined the effects of CAMPHOR on sexual behavior in male rats. Twenty four sexually mature male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 4 groups receiving daily i.p. injections of olive oil as vehicle (2.5 ml/kg) or CAMPHOR at 2.5, 12.5 or 50 mg/kg for 7 days. Afterwards, mount latency (ML), mount frequency (MF), intromission latency (IL) and intromission frequency (IF) of male rats in the presence of sexually receptive females rats were recorded. There was no significant difference in MF or IF from control and experimental groups. However, at the 50 mg/kg dose, CAMPHOR reduced the ML and IL relative to that of control rats. The finding indicates that at this dose, CAMPHOR had sexual desire and sexual performance enhancing properties.

Purpose: In Iranian traditional medicine there is a belief that CAMPHOR is a suppressor of sexual activity. Based on this idea and since there are few studies on this issue, we evaluated the effect of CAMPHOR on histopathological changes of reproductive system in young male mice of balb/c racial type.Materials and Methods: Thirty-six premature male balb/c mice, were divided into 3 paired groups of experimental, control, and sham (n = 6). Experimental groups 1 and 2 received 30 mg/kg CAMPHOR dissolved in olive oil (orally) for 10 and 20 days, respectively. The control groups received the same volume of olive oil during the same periods of time, and no intervention was done in sham groups. All groups were kept in the same environmental condition. At the end of exposure time, each group was anesthetized and their testes were removed for obtaining serial sections, and histological staining.Results: Comparing to the control groups less vascularization in testis tissue of experimental groups was seen. Furthermore, using stereological methods demonstrated that internal diameters of seminiferous tubules in experimental groups were significantly smaller than those in control groups (P <0.005). Also, the number of released sexual cells was lower in experimental groups (P <0.005). No meaningful difference was seen between controls and sham groups. Conclusion: Administration of CAMPHOR and its effects on male mice reproductive system may result in significant structural changes, including vascularization and proliferation of sexual cells. This can affect maturation of seminiferous tubules and subsequently, reproductive function of testes in mice.

Background and Purpose: In Iranian traditional medicine, it has been widely believed that CAMPHOR is a suppressor of sexual desire. Based on this idea and the few studies about this issue, we examined the effect of CAMPHOR on the histological changes and spermatogenesis phenomena in the mouse reproductive system.Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, 24 premature male balb/c mice were selected and divided into four (2 experimental and 2 control) groups. Experimental groups 1 and 2 were administered daily 30 mg/kg body weight dissolved CAMPHOR in olive oil (orally) for 10 and 20 days respectively. The control groups received the same volume of olive oil during the same periods. At the end of the exposure time, each group was anesthetized and their testes were routinely removed for obtaining serial sections and histological staining. The obtained data were analyzed using t-test.Results: The study data indicated that although the mean external diameter of the somniferous tubules did not show significant differences in experimental and control groups, the mean internal diameter tubules (26/31±1/56) of the experimental groups (versus control groups 42/38±2/19) decreased by %25, and mature sexual cells (17/±3/71) in the experimental groups (versus control groups 28±3/92) decreased by %12.Conclusion: The results of the present study indicated that administration of CAMPHOR significantly decreased the internal diameter of Somniferous tubules and reduced maturity of sexual cells; hence, affecting the reproductive system of the male mice with structural changes.

In Persian traditional medicine is believed that CAMPHOR (a crystalline ketone obtained from cinnamomum CAMPHORa (is a suppressor of sexual behaviors. This study examined the central effects of CAMPHOR on sexual hormones (LH, FSH and testosterone) and GnRH plasma levels in male rat.Male Wistar rats weighing 250-260gr were selected and divided into control (no treatment), sham (ICV injection of EtOH 10%) and treatment (ICV injection of CAMPHOR in three doses 4, 20, 40mg/10ml in alcohol) groups. The serum samples were used for assaying of GnRH, LH, FSH and testosterone.There were no significant differences in the levels of hormones between the groups of study.Despite the central administration of CAMPHOR in hypothalamus-pituitary - gonad (HPG) axis, no significant differences were seen in sex hormone's levels compared to the control. With this finding, it can be concluded that CAMPHOR may not effectively handle the axis via central pathway. These data recommend further studies of CAMPHOR on the HPG axis.