Zahedan Journal of Research in Medical Sciences
Volume:22 Issue: 2, Apr 2020

The present study aimed to compare the effect of metacognitive therapy-based group intervention and group acceptance-based behavioral therapy on psychophysiological signs of professional soccer players in the U-19 league in Tehran. Participants were professional soccer players occupied in professional soccer leagues in Tehran. The participants were entered into the assessment stage, and after obtaining informed consent, they were randomly assigned to one of the three experiment groups, namely MCT, MAC, and WL. The participants’ psychophysiological signs included EEG, EMG, HR, GSR, temperature, and RR, which were recorded using the ewave 8-channel neuro-biofeedback device. The data were analyzed using the eProbe7.8.3 software of Rubymind.us. The results demonstrated that MCT and MAC could make some changes in psychophysiological signs of anxious soccer players. MCT was shown to affect Fz Highbeta-Gama and RR, which had a correlation with anxiety. In addition, MAC was observed to affect the asymmetry of F3 alpha and F4 alpha as a remarkable EEG pattern of aggression. However, MCT and MAC did not show any effect on HR, EMG, temperature, and GSR. According to these findings, it can be inferred that those soccer players who are uncomfortable and suffer from anxiety and aggression-related problems may benefit from such interventions.

One of the most common endocrine and metabolic disorders is Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which has been reported in about 10% of women during the reproductive age.

This study was designed to investigate the efficiency of α-Linolenic acid (ALA) on in vitro maturation (IVM) and the quality of mouse oocytes with PCOS.

Female NMRI mice (30 - 35 day-old) were developed by the injection of 4 mg estradiol valerate dissolved in 0.2 mg sesame oil for 60 consecutive days. In the following, the PCOS ovaries were dissected and oocytes were cultured in the maturation medium supplemented with different dosages of α-linolenic acid (0, 50, 100 µM). The presence of the first polar body was considered the sign of the nuclear maturation of the oocyte. The expression of mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) gene in mature oocytes was investigated by Quantitative Real-time PCR.

The in vitro maturation and TFAM gene expression rates of PCOS oocytes in the medium treated with 50 µM of ALA (84 ± 7.9 and 0.46 ± 0.09, respectively) were significantly higher than the control group (P < 0.05).

The ALA could improve the IVM rate and quality of PCOS oocytes by higher expression of TFAM gene.

Fatty liver is one of the chronic liver disorders associated with lipid accumulation in hepatocytes. Hypothyroidism deficiency has been identified as a factor for non-alcoholic fatty liver development due to its important role in fat metabolism.

This study was conducted to determine the effects of aerobic exercise on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, hypothyroidism, and anthropometric indices.

Twenty-four obese children were randomly divided into two groups of control (n = 12) and experiment (n = 12). Aerobic exercise was done for 12 weeks. Before and after the training period, we measured the levels of liver enzymes (ALP, AST, and ALT), thyroid hormones (T3, T4, and TSH), and several key anthropometric indices. Liver ultrasonography was done, as well.

Aerobic training for 12 weeks significantly reduced the levels of thyroid hormones TSH (P = 0.023) and T4 (P = 0.002), liver enzymes ALT (P = 0.002), AST (P = 0.003), and ALP (P = 0.047), and anthropometric indices BMI (P = 0.001) and WC (P = 0.043) and increased the level of T3 (P = 0.011) in the experimental group.

Aerobic training is recommended as a weight control intervention for obese children. It can provide a non-medical strategy in the treatment of NAFLD and hypothyroidism.

Strenuous endurance training compromises the antioxidant defenses of the body and attempts to find supplements to heal gastric ulcers induced by strenuous endurance training are increasing.

Therefore, the current study aimed at investigating the effects of curcumin supplementation during nine weeks of endurance training on gastric antioxidant capacity (superoxide dismutase; SOD) and lipid peroxidation (malondialdehyde; MDA) of serum in male Wistar rats.

The current applied research was conducted on 26 male Wistar rats aged nine weeks and weighed 215.87 ± 20.49 g. After one week of acclimation to training, the rats were randomly assigned to four groups: the control, curcumin, endurance, and endurance + curcumin. During the nine weeks (five sessions per week), the rats performed an incremental endurance training (up to 70 minutes at 35 m/minute), and the curcumin supplement at 30 mg/kg of body weight was injected intraperitoneally three times per week. SOD activity was assayed by the spectrophotometric method, and serum MDA level was measured utilizing the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances. For data analysis, ANOVA was employed using SPSS version 24.

The results of the study revealed that strenuous endurance training significantly reduced the activity of the gastric SOD enzyme (P < 0.05) and increased serum MDA level (P < 0.05), while curcumin supplementation increased gastric SOD enzyme activity, decreased serum MDA level, and resulted in the restoration of antioxidant defenses.

Prolonged strenuous endurance training induces oxidative stress to gastric tissue, and curcumin supplementation restores the antioxidant defense of the gastric tissue and body.

This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of solution-focused group therapy in generalized anxiety disorder in patients with multiple sclerosis. In this semi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design and unequal control group, 40 patients with multiple sclerosis were selected randomly from the MS Society of Mashhad. They were selected through purposive sampling and randomly assigned into two treatment and control groups. Then, six training sessions were held for the treatment group based on the short-term solution-focused treatment protocol for generalized anxiety disorder. This intervention was not implemented for the control group. Participants answered a seven-item generalized anxiety inventory. Descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and analysis of covariance were used to analyze the data. The results showed a significant difference (P = 0.021) between the control and treatment groups in generalized anxiety disorder. In other words, solution-focused therapy could significantly reduce generalized anxiety in the treatment group when compared to the control group.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an age-related neurodegenerative disorder. Evidence from neuropathological studies indicates that the levels of neurotrophins brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and nerve growth factor (NGF) are compromised in AD.

The present study aimed to review the effects of swimming training and royal jelly (RJ) on BDNF and NGF gene expression in the hippocampus tissue of rats with AD.

In the present experimental study, 25 rats with AD were divided into five groups, including (1) control, (2) sham, (3) RJ, (4) training, and (5) training with RJ. Five healthy rats were selected as the healthy control group to examine the effect of AD induction by 8 mg/kg trimethyltin chloride (TMT) intra-peritoneally on BDNF and NGF. During eight weeks, groups 3 and 5 received 100 mg/kg RJ daily intra-peritoneally, and groups 4 and 5 swam in a rat swimming tank three sessions per week. One-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post hoc test was used for data analysis in SPSS 20 software (P < 0.05).

The induction of AD by TMT had a significant effect on the reduction of BDNF (P = 0.001) and NGF (P = 0.001). However, RJ had a significant effect on the increase of NGF (P = 0.03). Nevertheless, RJ (P = 0.99), training (P = 0.99), and training with RJ (P = 0.94) had no significant effect on BDNF and training (P = 0.99) and training with RJ (P = 0.97) had no significant effect on NGF.

It appears that RJ has a significant effect on the increase of NGF gene expression in the hippocampus tissue of rats with AD. Nevertheless, RJ consumption simultaneously with swimming training has no significant effect on BDNF and NGF.

In this interventional study, 120 primigravid women with low bishop scores who visited the maternity room of Ali ibn Abitaleb Hospital in Zahedan (2014) were selected. Patients were randomly assigned to receive syntocinon, misoprostol, or transcervical catheter plus syntocinon. Variables including success rate and side effects were compared among the groups. The success rates in the syntocinon, syntocinon Group plus the trans-cervical catheter, and misoprostol groups were 72.5%, 77.5%, and 65%, respectively, showing no significant difference between the three groups (P = 0.711). The rates of drug adverse effects in the syncinosin, syncinosin plus trans-cervical catheter, and misoprostol groups were 7.5%,7.5%, and 2.5%, respectively. According to the obtained results, the three methods of syntocinon, misoprostol and transcervical catheter with syntocinon, which are low-risk and effective methods for cervical ripening, could be used to terminate pregnancy in primigravida women with low Bishop score before the initiation of labor induction.

Both adenosine signaling and phosphodiesterase inhibitor agents can alter the survivability and differentiation potential of Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs). On the other hand, the crosstalk between MSCs and immunocytes like neutrophils is clear.

Here, we examined the consequence of inflammatory functions of neutrophils after co-culture with conditioned MSC Medium (CM) whose MSCs had previously been pulsed with theobromine.

Mesenchymal stem cells were separated and characterized by the bone marrow of Wistar rats. These cells were primed with different concentrations of theobromine (0, 10, 50, and 100 μM) for 48 hours. Neutrophils were primed with CM for four hours and their performance was examined.

CM primed with theobromine at low to moderate concentrations protected the neutral red removal by neutrophils and potentiated CM potential to support neutrophils from apoptosis. CM from MSC primed with theobromine augmented the phagocytosis potential of co-cultured neutrophils. Conversely, CM isolated from MSCs pulsed with theobromine reduced the production of potentially noxious reactive oxygen species and myeloperoxidase activity more profoundly than did CM from un-pulsed MSCs.

Conditioned medium of MSCs pulsed with theobromine can instruct anti-inflammatory neutrophils.