Journal of Basic Research in Medical Sciences
Volume:9 Issue: 2, Spring 2022

The new coronavirus (Covid 19) has become a hazardous threat due to its prevalence worldwide. Pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to this infectious disease because their immune system is already slightly compromised during pregnancy, making them more susceptible to viral infections. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate abortion due to this disease in different countries of the world. Thirty-six articles were analyzed by searching the web of science, Google Scholar, Pubmed databases for the following keywords: Covid 19 and abortion, Covid 19 and fetus, and Covid 19. Thirteen out of the 36 articles were used, and the rest were excluded from the study due to being unrelated to the subject. Articles related to the new coronavirus and abortion were then carefully studied and analyzed. It was shown in various studies that, due to the infection and immune system compromise during pregnancy, the Coronavirus could play a role in abortion and stillbirth. So, a prognosis of this threat could help pregnant women observe the health protocols during the pandemic more seriously so that they are more protected against being infected.

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) and moderate-intensity continuous training (MCT) in combination with metformin in diabetic patients is likely to be effective. This research aimed to investigate the possible role of HIIT and MCT training alone and also in combination with metformin on biochemical factors and lipid profiles in diabetic and healthy rats.    

Sprague-Dawley rats were allocated randomly into nine groups (in each group n = 5). Streptozotocin and nicotinamide were used to induce diabetes in target rats. Special diets were given to all groups of rats and exercise protocol was performed one time per week for 8 weeks. Rats received metformin (200 mg/kg) daily by gavage. The biochemical factors and serum lipid profiles were measured. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software and the significance level was considered at P < 0.05.     

The lowest serum glucose and insulin levels among diabetic rats belonged to the diabetic group who received metformin and performed HIIT training (P < 0.05). Diabetic groups that performed HIIT and MCT training compared with the diabetic group that consumed metformin alone had lower HbA1c levels, which this difference was not significant (P < 0.05). The lowest triglyceride level among the treated diabetic groups was in the group that received metformin and performed HIIT training (P < 0.05). The results of HDL, LDL and cholesterol changes were similar to those found for triglyceride.    

The study showed that both HIIT and MCT exercise, even in the absence of metformin, significantly reduce some biochemical factors and lipid profile levels as well as improve body weight in the diabetic rats under treatment with metformin compared with the diabetic control group.

Today, diabetes is one of the leading causes of death in worldwide. Nutritional intervention and exercise training known as main strategies for control and management diabetes. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of grape seed extract consumption with moderate intensity aerobic exercise on some markers of cardiac myocyte apoptosis in male Wistar rats with type 1 diabetic.

Forty adult male Wistar rats with an initial weight range of 160-220 g were divided into 5 groups of including diabetic / training + extract, diabetic / training, diabetic / extract, diabetic / control and healthy / control (8 heads per group). The rats of training groups performed aerobic exercise for 60 minutes a day at an average speed of 28 meters per minute (intensity equivalent to 70 to 75% of maximum oxygen consumption and training volume of 8.4 km per week). Grape seed extract was consumed by gavage with dosage of 40 mg / kg per day. All groups 48 hours after the last training session, was dissected and heart tissue was collected and Bcl-2, sFas and FasL analysis was performed.

Aerobic training and consumption of grape seed extract (both and each alone) significantly increased FasL and BcL-2 and also significantly decreased sFas and sFas/FasL in type 1 diabetic rats (P < 0.05); however, the combination of aerobic training and consumption of grape seed extract increased FasL and BcL-2 further and also decreased sFas and sFas/FasL in these rats compared to the training and consumption of the extract alone, which was a statistically significant difference (P < 0.05).

By combining the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise along with the consumption of grape seed extract, more anti-apoptotic effects may be induced in the myocytes of type 1 diabetic rats.

Methamphetamine is a nerve stimulant. Buprenorphine has been widely used in the management of various types of pain and reducing addiction side effects. This study aimed to investigate the role of methamphetamine, buprenorphine, or their interaction on analgesic threshold and the expression of protein kinase B (AKT) and glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK3b) genes in the lumbar spinal cord of male rats.

In this experimental study, 56 male Wistar rats (weight 200 ± 50 g) were randomly divided into eight groups: The control group, sham group, methamphetamine group, two buprenorphine groups, two methamphetamines + buprenorphine groups, and deprivation group. The drugs of methamphetamine and buprenorphine were injected intraperitoneal (i.p) for five days.  To measure the analgesic threshold, the Tail-Flick test was used. Additionally, the real-time PCR technique was applied to evaluate the expression levels of AKT and GSK3b genes in the lumbar spinal cord of male rats.  A one-way ANOVA test was used to analyze the data.

Intraperitoneal injection of methamphetamine (10 mg/kg) induced analgesia (P < 0.05) and increased the expression of the gene of AKT (P < 0.05) in the lumbar spinal cord of male rats. In addition, the injection of buprenorphine (6 and 10 mg/kg) potentiated the effect of methamphetamine on analgesia (P < 0.01) and increased the expression of the GSK3b gene (P < 0.05), whereas the higher dose of buprenorphine reduced the impact of methamphetamine on the expression of AKT gene (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the deprivation of methamphetamine, did not alter Tail Flick latency and the expression level of AKT and GSK3b genes.

Our results indicated a possible reinforcing role of the buprenorphine on the increasing impact of acute methamphetamine injection on the expression of the GSK3b gene and analgesia.

Aging causes changes in metabolic, cardiovascular, and neuromuscular functions. By developing aging process, physical activity decreases, which is mainly due to fundamental changes in body composition and lack of angiogenesis for which some indicators of angiogenesis have been found in older male mice. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on angiogenesis indices in elderly male rats.

The  studied sample included 20 elderly male mice, which were randomly divided into two groups of control (n = 10) and experimental (n = 10). The experimental group repeated the HIIT in the specified intervals. The exercises were repeated after two minutes of rest, with 80% of the maximum speed in the first week, 90% in the second week, 100% in the third week, and 110% from the beginning of the fourth week, until the end of the training. To evaluate the research variables (VEGF, FGF21, NO, apelin-13), 3 ml of  peripheral blood was drawn from the tail of elderly male mice 72 hours before and after the last session of the training.

Eight weeks of HIIT significantly increased VEGF and NO  (P = 0.001). It also increased the FGF  and apelin-3 levels significantly (P = 0.0001). No significant change was observed in the control group.

The results of this study showed that eight weeks of HIIT significantly increased angiogenesis levels in elderly male rats. Therefore, HIIT can be used as an appropriate and especially alternative exercise to increase angiogenesis in the elderly individuals.

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of assertiveness and stress management training on self-regulation and resilience building among adolescent female students.

This quasi-experimental study was carried out among 102 female students in high schools of Ilam in 2020, selected by cluster sampling and randomly divided into three groups of assertiveness training, stress management training, and control. Data were collected using “The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC)” and “The Pintrich and De Groot's Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ)” in two stages of pre- and post-test and were analyzed using MANOVA and ANCOVA statistical tests, while P < 0.05 was considered significant.

In the present study, assertiveness training was effective on self-regulation and resilience building by modifying pre-test scores (P = 0.001). Stress management training was effective on self-regulation building by modifying pre-test scores (P = 0.003). However, in the variables of trust in individual instincts, negative emotion tolerance, positive acceptance of change and safe relationships, control and spiritual effects, there is a significant difference between the mean post-test score of the stress management group and control after controlling the pre-test scores, which indicates the effectiveness of stress management training on resilience building (P = 0.001). Furthermore, assertiveness and stress management training had an effect on self-regulation and resilience building (P < 0.05).

Among junior high school students, assertiveness and stress management training has been effective on self-regulation and resilience building among adolescent girls.

Specific learning disorder is an impairment in general academic skill that is identified in reading, mathematics and written expression fields; besides, it creates a major problem in academic achievement, job performance or daily life activities. The present study was aimed to compare the efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation with neurofeedback on specific learning disorder (math, reading and spelling) in primary school children in District 5 of Tehran.

The methodology of this research was quasi-experimental with pre-test-post-test design with control group. Using the Learning Disability Evaluation Scale, 45 patients in three groups were selected as experimental group (15 patients for cognitive rehabilitation and 15 patients for neurofeedback) and control group (15 patients). Then, the interventions were provided to the experimental group and the control group used the usual school training. Pre-test and post-test were taken from both experimental and control groups, after the intervention on the experimental group, the pre-test and post-test results of all three groups were compared with each other. The Learning Disability Evaluation Scale (LDES-R2), developed by McCarney, was used in the study. Multivariate analysis of covariance, with SPSS 22 software was used for data analysis.

The results of the study showed that after the intervention, the treatment group was improved in the specific learning variables of reading, writing and math (P < 0.001). And the effect of cognitive rehabilitation approach was greater than the efficacy of neurofeedback (P < 0.001).

By improving specific learning disorders in children, their problems might be reduced and the effect of treatment might be improved. Though, in case of specific learning disorders in the children, we would need much more thorough treatments.

Different hepatokines including the hepatocyte-derived fibrinogen-related protein 1 (HFREP1) are secreted by liver tissue, which can affect the lipid metabolism. The aim of present study was to investigate the effect of 12 weeks circuit resistance training with different intensity on the levels of HFREP1 and lipid profile in obese postmenopausal women.

Subjects of the study consisted of 44 postmenopausal women with average age of 56.07 ± 3.18 years old, dividing into the circuit resistance training with low (L-RT), moderate (M-RT), high (H-RT) intensity and the control groups (11 subjects in each group). Training program was conducted for 12 weeks and three session per week. Blood samples collected in pre and post-test stages and the levels of HFREP1 were measured by ELISA method and finally data was analyzed by Graphpad Prism software.

Analysis of HFREP1 data indicated that there were significant differences between different groups (P < 0.001). The results of Bonferroni post hoc-test showed that there was no significant difference between the control and L-RT groups (P > 0.05). However, HFREP1 in M-RT and H-RT groups significantly decreased compared to control group (P < 0.001). In addition, HFREP1 decrease in M-RT and H-RT groups was significant compared to L-RT group (P > 0.05). Lipid profile also improved in all trained groups, which further improvement observed in the H-RT group.

It seems that, higher intensity circuit resistance training is associated with further decrease in the levels of HFREP1, and improving the lipid profile can be attributed partly to downregulation of HFREP-1 levels.