Thrita
Volume:11 Issue: 29, Jun 2022

Osteoporosis is one of the most important problems associated with aging. Genetic and environmental agents affect the process of reducing bone mineral density (BMD). As environmental agents, mechanical load (something which exerts an opposing force on the system; hence system needs more power to perform that work) is the important factor, which affects BMD. Studies show that a variety of exercise programs, depending on the amount of mechanical load they apply to the bone, activate the signaling pathways involved in the process of osteoblast activation and reduce osteoclast activity. The effect of physical activity (PA) on BMD is a function of the intensity, duration, and type of program used. Although the existing literature shows that regular PA increases BMD and subsequently develops its strength, there are conflicting results regarding the effectiveness of exercise programs that confirm the need for further study in this area.

Agility is an essential component of sport performance, especially in ball sports. It is also a significant indicator of sport skills under competitive conditions. Agility is one of the most critical factors in the sport performance of soccer players. Agility and coordination of the nervous-muscular system to produce maximum force, as an important factor of function and physical fitness, which is considered along with perception and decision making in unpredictable situations. Assessment tests for assessing agility are divided into two general areas called non-reactive agility as well as reactive agility test. Although non-reactive agility tests are superior to reactive agility tests in terms of reliability, reactive agility tests are more similar to the movement and skill pattern in soccer and can distinguish players from each other well. In reactive agility tests, the movement path of the experimenter is not predictable and not all changes in path are predetermined and exactly the movement pattern in the soccer game where the movement path of the player is not predictable and the movement path of the ball as well as the prevailing conditions in the game that determine and change of direction player at any moment. The results showed that non-reactive agility had a higher relative validity and reliability than reactive agility. This small difference was acknowledged by researchers related to the reactivity and complexity of reactive agility tests. finally a review of the above studies and findings confirms that the use of reactive agility tests is necessary to evaluate athletes

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common disease associated with chronic anovulation that affects 4 - 6% of women of reproductive age.

This study aimed to assess the correlation of luteinizing hormone (LH)/follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) ratio with body mass index (BMI), hirsutism, age, and main clinical symptoms of PCOS in women.

We compared hirsutism, irregular menses, menstrual pain, LH, FSH, and LH/FSH between 400 women diagnosed with PCOS based on Rotterdam Criteria and 500 healthy controls. Moreover, the relationships between all these variables were investigated. The data were evaluated by the Mann-Whitney test, chi-square test, and correlation coefficient.

In this study, mean weight and BMI, as well as the percentage of clinical factors, namely hirsutism, irregular menstruation, and menstrual pain in the PCOS group, were significantly higher than in the control group (P ≤ 0.001). In addition, the mean of LH, FSH, and LH/FSH in women with PCOS was significantly higher than the control group (P≤0.001). Our results showed a significant negative relationship between age and LH/FSH in the PCOS group (r = -0.106, P = 0.034).

According to the findings of this study, LH/FSH ratio had a significant negative correlation with age. However, no relationship was observed between LH/FSH ratio and BMI.

Chlorpyrifos is an organophosphate toxin used to control agricultural pests that cause oxidative stress, apoptosis, and cell destruction in various body tissues, including the heart. The expression of Wnt, TGFβ, and beta-catenin plays a crucial role in cardiac fibrosis development. No study has investigated changes in the function of these genes following physical activity and eugenol supplementation in chlorpyrifos intoxication. The present study investigated the independent and interactive effect of aerobic exercise and eugenol supplementation on the Wnt, TGFβ, and beta-catenin gene expression in the heart tissue of rats poisoned with chlorpyrifos. Forty-two male rats were divided into seven groups: healthy control, healthy receiving DMSO as chlorpyrifos toxin solvent, healthy receiving corn oil as eugenol solvent, poisoned control, aerobic exercise poisoning, eugenol poisoning, aerobic poisoning, and eugenol poisoning. The expression of the desired genes in the hearts of rats was measured after providing the intervention. Data were analyzed using the one-way analysis of variance and Tukey's post hoc tests. Statistical significance was considered when P ≤ 0.05. Poisoning significantly increased the Wnt, TGFβ, and beta-catenin gene expression in the heart tissue. The use of exercise and supplementation reduced the Wnt, TGFβ, and beta-catenin gene expression, each independently, in the hearts of poisoned rats. Exercise-eugenol interaction did not significantly reduce the gene expression than exercise or supplementation alone. Overall, the present study showed the positive role of exercise and eugenol in reducing chronic cardiac toxicity on Wnt, TGFβ, and beta-catenin gene expression.

Chlorpyrifos is an organophosphate pesticide that is widely used in the world. Exposure to chlorpyrifos is associated with some problems in cognitive functions, such as learning and memory. Caspase-3 is a cysteine protease that is activated in response to several apoptotic stimuli and triggers some proteolytic events, cell death, and neurodegeneration.

The aim of the present study was to clear potential mechanisms related to chlorpyrifos neurotoxicity through caspase-3 alteration and passive avoidance memory function.

Male adult rats were randomly divided into the control, sham, and chlorpyrifos groups (eight rats in each group). The chlorpyrifos group received an intraperitoneal injection of chlorpyrifos (3 mg/kg/5 days) dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide for two consecutive weeks. The caspase-3 levels in the hippocampus were assessed by the western blot technique, and also the passive avoidance task was used for memory evaluation.

Our findings showed that chlorpyrifos treatment markedly increased caspase-3 levels in the hippocampus and also increased the time spent in the dark chamber 24 h and one week after receiving foot shock in the chlorpyrifos group.

Organophosphate pesticides exposure can impair passive avoidance memory, and high levels of caspase-3 in the hippocampus are proposed as a possible reason for neuronal toxicity and memory impairment.

 Measuring physical fitness by studying aerobic metabolism, anaerobic metabolism, and muscular strength in most sports research is one of the important indicators of professional athletes.

 The aim of the present study was to compare six weeks of creatine supplementation and ginseng on the aerobic and anaerobic strength and muscle strength of the male players of the Iran national epee fencing team.

 This quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design was performed on two experimental groups of creatine and ginseng as a double-blind study. A total of 14 male players of the national epee fencing team were assigned to two groups’ creatine supplement and ginseng supplement. The statistical significant difference was determined at P ≥ 0.05, and ANCOVA test was used to assess the differences between groups. All data were analyzed by the SPSS software version 25.

 The results showed that the mean aerobic power in the creatine supplement group was significantly different from the ginseng supplement group (P = 0.001). In addition, the mean anaerobic control within the creatine supplement group is significantly higher than the ginseng supplement group (P = 0.001). The mean muscle strength in the creatine supplement group is significantly different from the ginseng group (P = 0.001). Higher mean aerobic power, anaerobic power, and muscle strength in the creatine supplement group, compared to the ginseng group, showed the more significant role of this supplement in raising aerobic power.

 It can be concluded that the role of creatine supplements in improving aerobic and anaerobic power and muscle strength could be more remarkable than the ginseng supplement.