International journal of basic science in medicine
Volume:2 Issue: 2, Jun 2017

Role of immune system in diabetes mellitus (DM) has been emerged for a long time. Since then, the majority of focus has been toward the role of adaptive immunity, while little thoughts credited a role for innate immunity in this process. By the emerging role of innate immunity in DM pathogenesis, especially toll-like receptors (TLRs) superfamily, it is expected that therapeutic approaches target these components in future of pharmaceutical research in diabetes.

Probiotics are a set of nonpathogenic microorganisms without virulence which inhibit pathogen growth in animals. Enterococcus faecium has been introduced as a probiotic and its probiotic characteristics have been evaluated in several investigations. Evidence suggests that probiotics may modulate the immune system of the host to improve responses against pathogens. Thus, this review aimed to present recent studies regarding the effects of the E. faecium probiotic strain on the host immune responses. It seems that E. faecium AL41, CGMCC, NCIMB, SF68, Strain 26, JWS 833 and EF55 strains improve beneficially the immune responses of the host. However, most studies have been performed on animal models, therefore, clinical trials on humans are required to understand the beneficial mechanisms of E. faecium on the human immune system.

Higher concentration of plasma visfatin in obese and diabetic subjects compared with their healthy counterparts shows visfatin relationship to obesity and overweight. This article reviewed the studies on contradictory and different notions regarding the role of physical activity in visfatin response following aerobic and resistance exercises. Recent reports on the impact of physical activity and exercise on visfatin concentration is contradictory. Some studies have identified that exercise can reduce visfatin concentration depending on the duration of physical activity and calorie expenditure, while others have not reported any changes in visfatin concentration. The present review indicated that a balanced diet, low in fat, and physical exercise (aerobic and aerobic-resistance exercises) can reduce blood visfatin levels depending on the severity and duration, while resistance training alone exerts no significant effects on serum visfatin level.

The aim of this study was to compare the effects of high-intensity interval training (HIT) prescription by heart rate (HR-based) and running speed (speed-based) methods on natural logarithm of the square root of the mean of the sum of the squares of differences between adjacent normal R-R intervals (Ln rMSSD) as a measure of heart rate variability (HRV) in young female student athletes.
Seventeen female student athletes participated in this study and were divided into HR-based (n=9, age: 16.7 years) and speed-based (n=8, age: 16.9 years) HIT groups. 30-15 Intermittent Fitness Test was used for the speed-based group to detect the reference maximum speed (VIFT) for prescribing the HIT intensity accordingly. Age predicted maximal HR was used for the HR-based group as the reference value. All subjects performed similar training protocol for 5 weeks, except the method of individualizing HIT sessions (2 weekly sessions of HIT=3 sets of 3 minutes work interspersed with 3 minutes passive recovery with the 15-15 seconds format during each working set); either according to 90%-95% of maximal HR or VIFT.
HR- and speed-based HIT groups showed the most likely large improvements in Ln rMSSD of .9%, 90% confidence limits [CL] (5.9; 10.0); standardized change: .75 (1.32; 2.19) and .5%, (2.8; 8.3); .41 (0.72; 2.09), respectively. In between group analyses, HR-based HIT produced likely a small greater improvement in Ln rMSSD than speed-based HIT (.9%, [-5.0; 4.4]; .50 [-0.14; 1.14], chances for greater/similar/lower values of 79/17/4).
It is concluded that both HIT prescription strategies were effective in Ln rMSSD elevation, but using maximal HR as a reference may elicit higher parasympathetic dominance with small effect in young female student athletes.

Insufficient pulmonary function is a complication of type 2 diabetes coordinating with poor blood sugar management and promoting an inflammatory condition. Our objective was to assess the effects of consistent aerobic exercises on pulmonary function and levels of some inflammatory cytokines in males with type 2 diabetes.
In the present semi-experimental study, 20 men with type 2 diabetes were selected using purposive sampling method. The recruited patients were randomly assigned into one of the aerobic exercise or control groups. The exercises continued for 8 weeks, 3 sessions per week, and each session consisted 45-60 minutes of aerobic exercise with intensity of 50%-70% heart rate reserve (HRR). Spirometry and hematologic parameters were both measured at 48 hours prior and 72 hours subsequent to the intervention. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS v. 22.0 statistical software. Independent and paired sample t test were used for inferential analysis with P≤0.05 regarded as statistically significant.
A significant reduction was observed in serum levels of fasting blood sugar (FBS), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), C-reactive protein (CRP), and interleukin 6 (IL-6) in aerobic exercise group (P Considering our findings, it seems that aerobic exercise can improve pulmonary function in type 2 diabetes patients. This may be in some levels mediated by stabilizing blood glucose levels and subsiding systemic inflammatory condition in these patients.

The aim of this study was to evaluate health literacy (HL) status among women of reproductive age who referred to urban health centers in Zahedan.
In this cross-sectional descriptive study, 250 women of reproductive age (15-49 years old) who referred to urban health centers in Zahedan, Iran were assessed using the Iranian Health Literacy Questionnaire. To analyze the data, SPSS 15 software and statistical tests including independent sample t test and chi-square test were used.
The mean ± standard deviation (SD) age of participants in this study was 26.32 ± 5.83 with a minimum of 15 and maximum of 45 years. The majority of the participants (32.4%) held a high school diploma and 88.8% of them were housewives. The mean HL score was computed 7.15 out of 20 indicating that 100% of the participants had inadequate HL. There were significant relationships between HL score and age, occupation, educational degree, language and living location (P Considering high levels of inadequate HL among women of reproductive age in Zahedan, it is recommended to use HL measures to screen people with inadequate HL, to provide each individual with information and services which are appropriate to their HL skills and to be able to reduce the consequences of inadequate HL.

Today regarding drug resistance of fungi and bacteria, many researches are focused on herbal-based medication. As these herbal-based medications can show better adaptivity, the minimum advantage of them compared to synthetic drugs is that they are harmless. This article aimed to study the antifungal effect of alcoholic extract and essence of Arnebia euchroma L (Abukhalsa) roots on saprophytic and dermatophytic fungi.
In this research, the roots were collected from Zagros heights in spring. Then they were dried and 300 mL ethanol was added to each 100 g dried powder. The alcoholic extraction was performed by maceration and the extract was concentrated by distillation in vacuum. The clevenger apparatus was used to extract the essence; then it was extracted by boiling water at vacuum for 4–6 hours. Shikonin was provided in commercial form. The antifungal activities of alcoholic extract, essence and Shikonin were studied and recorded using cylinder test based on the diameter of inhibition zone in Sabouraud-Dextrose agar. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and Minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) were measured by broths macrodilution tests.
The results from cylinder, MIC and MFC tests showed that 30% of shikonin was more effective than root on fungi. Our data demonstrated that alcoholic extract was better than oily extract.
The alcoholic extract had better characteristics than the essence. To confirm the final findings, further researches are required.