مجله فیض
سال بیست و هفتم شماره 3 (پیاپی 131، امرداد و شهریور 1402)

Sciatica is a peripheral nervous system disorder that affects many people throughout the world. New therapeutic approaches such as nanomedicines and plant derivatives with less side effects can be used to improve nerve tissue. Trans-anethole is a part of phytoestrogen derived from anise and fennel, and has strong steroidogenic and anti-inflammatory effects. Cerium oxide nanoparticles also have antioxidant properties. In this study, the interaction effects of cerium oxide nanoparticles and trans-anethole investigated on improving the function of the damaged sciatic nerve in a rat mode.

In this study, 20 male rats weighing 250-300 g divided into five groups. The control group and the sciatica model group received saline. One group of sciatica model received simultaneous 125 mg/kg trans-anethole or 20 mg/kg cerium oxide nanoparticles, and the other group of sciatica model received simultaneous 250 mg/kg trans-anethole or 20 mg/kg cerium oxide nanoparticles (IP). Behavioral tests (Sensory and motor) taken from each group and muscle tissue removed to evaluate the atrophy rate.

The results showed that the simultaneous injection of trans-anethole and cerium oxide nanoparticles improved the damaged sciatic nerve compared to the sciatica model group. Also, the index of sciatica performance and sensory recovery was better in rats receiving trans-anethole and cerium oxide nanoparticles at the same time compared to the sciatica model group.

Trans-anethole and cerium oxide nanoparticles, due to their antioxidant and neuroprotective properties, may be involved in the recovery of the damaged sciatic nerve by synergizing each other's effects.

Lifestyle modification through dietary interventions and exercise training is still one of the most effective ways to treat non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a high-intensity interval training along with Portulaca oleracea supplementation on Irisin and TLR4 in the liver tissues of rats with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

In this experimental study, 30 male Wistar rats were divided into two groups: non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (n=25) and healthy control (n=5). Non-alcoholic fatty liver was induced by 12 weeks of high-fat diet. After confirming non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, rats (n=20) were assigned into four subgroups; non-alcoholic fatty liver control group (n=5), Portulaca oleracea supplement group (n=5), training group (n=5) and training group + Portulaca oleracea supplement (n=5). Portulaca oleracea supplement was given daily and a high-intensity interval training was presented for 8 weeks, 5 sessions per week. The amounts of Irisin and TLR4 in liver tissue were measured using the sandwich ELISA method.

Irisin levels were significantly higher in the training+Portulaca oleracea supplement group compared to the fatty liver control group (P=0.001), the interval training group (P=0.018) and Portulaca oleracea supplement group (P=0.033). The TLR4 levels in the training+Portulaca oleracea supplement group (P=0.007) and the high intensity interval training group (P=0.045) were significantly lower than the fatty liver control group.

High-intensity interval training along with Portulaca oleracea supplementation leads to increases in Irisin release and decreases in the TLR4 levels in the liver tissue of rats with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which may be effective in improving non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Apoptosis is a protective cellular process and physical activity and curcumin may affect some signaling pathways related to apoptosis. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and curcumin consumption on mitochondrial caspase 3 and 9 gene expression of cardiomyocyte in male rat of the stroke model.

In this experimental study, 32 male rats with myocardial infarction were assigned randomly into 4 equal groups (n=8) of HIIT, supplement, control, and supplement+HIIT. The HIIT groups were subjected to high-intensity interval training (10 bouts of 4-minute activity with an intensity of 85-90% of VO2max) for 8 weeks. The amount of 15 mg of pure curcumin per kilogram of body weight was given by a gavage to the supplement and HIIT+supplement groups, 5 days a week. All rats were anesthetized by intraperitoneal injection of ketamine and xylazine, 48 hours after the last training session, then surgery and dissection of the rats were performed.

The results showed a significant decrease in the expression of caspase 3 and 9 genes in the HIIT and HIIT+supplement groups compared to the control and supplement groups.

It seems that HIIT and curcumin consumptions lead to a reduction of mitochondrial apoptosis in cardiac muscle. The present findings show that the expression of caspase 3 and 9 in cardiac tissue is a trainable factor.

Considering that traditional medicine has been used to treat sleep disorders due to restless leg syndrome, the aim of the present study was to determine the effect of black seed oil massage on the severity of restless legs syndrome in patients with type 2 diabetes.

This clinical trial was conducted on 152 patients with type 2 diabetes admitted to Shahid Beheshti Hospital in Kashan, Iran, in 2022. Based on the International Restless Leg Syndrome Scale (IRLSS), patients with moderate and severe severity of restless leg syndrome (score ≥ 11) were divided into two equal (intervention and control) groups (n=76). The control group received routine treatment. In the intervention group, in addition to routine treatment, effleurage foot massage with black seed oil was performed. At the end of the course, the intensity of restless legs syndrome in the two groups was checked again.

Before the intervention, there was no significant difference in the intensity of restless legs syndrome in the control and intervention groups. At the end of the intervention, the mean intensity levels of this syndrome in the control and intervention groups were 26.63±5.81 and 18.88±8.44, respectively, and this difference was statistically significant.

Foot massage using black seed oil was effective in reducing the restless legs syndrome intensity in patients with type 2 diabetes. It is recommended that this method be used along with the usual treatment methods to relieve the restless legs syndrome in these patients.

Teenage obesity is so important issue in health as it is a defining indicator of obesity in adulthood. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a dialectical behavioral therapy on emotion regulation, impulsivity and body mass index (BMI) in obese or overweight teenage girls.

The present study was a randomized clinical trial with pretest-posttest and control group. The study population included overweight and obese girl students (n=40) aged 13-15 years in Kashan, Iran, in the academic year of 2018-2019. The students were selected through target-based sampling, and randomly assigned into intervention and control groups. Participants completed emotion regulation and impulsivity questionnaires and their BMI was assessed. The intervention group underwent the dialectical behavior therapy, while the control group received no treatment. 

Dialectical behavior therapy significantly reduced the mean scores of difficulties in emotion regulation (F=7.36, P<0.01) and BMI (F=9.15, P<0.001) compared to the control group. However, the mean score of impulsivity in the treatment group did not decrease significantly (F=1.52, P>0.05).

According to the current findings, the dialectical behavior therapy can be considered as an effective therapeutic approach to reduce the difficulty in emotion regulation and BMI in obese or overweight teenagers.

Eating disorder is one of the most common disorders reported among young girls. This study aimed to identify the relationship between eating disorder (nutrition attitudes) and nutrition knowledge, physical activity levels, and corona-induced anxiety in female students.

This is a cross-sectional and correlational study. The statistical population included the female students of Farhangian University of Mashhad, Shahid Hasheminejad Campus (n=655) in the academic year of 2021-2022, out of which 247 female students were randomly enrolled. They completed questionnaires of nutrition knowledge, eating disorders, corona-induced anxiety, physical activity level and anthropometric indicators related to health. Data analysis was done by Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Pearson and linear regression tests in SPSS version 21 software.

Eating disorders had a significant correlation with corona-induced anxiety, and the level of physical activity (P˂0.01). The results of Linear regression showed that corona-induced anxiety can predict eating disorders among female students (P˂0.01). Despite the significant negative relationship between eating disorders and physical activity levels, the results of the regression model showed that physical activity levels could not predict eating disorders in female students (P>0.05).

In crisis situations, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, increased levels of anxiety can cause a higher frequency of eating disorders. It seems that decreased anxiety levels and techniques for coping with anxiety can be useful ways to overcome eating disorders among female students.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women and the first cause of cancer-related death among them. In the survivors of this cancer, several factors play a role in adapting to the disease. Therefore, the present study investigated the mediating role of self-compassion and psychological resilience in the relationship between body image and adjustment in breast cancer patients.

The method of the current study was structural equation modeling. The statistical population included all women with breast cancer undergoing treatment at Ayatollah Yathrabi Hospital in Kashan, Iran, in 2022. A total of 202 patients were selected using the convenience sampling. Data were collected using the Body Image Scale, Self-compassion Scale-short form, Resilience Scale-short form and Psychosocial adjustment to illness scale. Then, the data were analyzed by AMOS 24.

The results of direct paths showed that the effect of body image on self-compassion and psychological resilience was significant (P<0.01). Moreover, the effect of self-compassion and psychological resilience on psychosocial adjustment to the disease was significant (P<0.05). The results of Indirect paths indicated that self-compassion and psychological resilience completely mediated the relationship between body image and psychosocial adjustment to the disease (P<0.01).

The self-compassion and resilience can be useful for increasing the psychosocial adjustment of breast cancer survivors. Future studies in more diverse samples are needed to confirm the causal direction of these relationships and extend the findings.

Patients who have recovered from COVID-19 suffer from lasting symptoms such as numerous physical and mental disorders. It seems that these conditions can disturb the activities of daily living. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare fatigue, quality of life and pulmonary function in recovered COVID-19 patients and healthy individuals.

This experimental study was conducted on 25 recovered COVID-19 patients, discharged from Qom hospitals, Iran, in 2022, and 25 healthy people. The inclusion criteria for healthy people were a negative PCR test result and the age range of 35 to 59 years, and for recovered COVID-19 patients were at least one week of hospitalization due to COVID-19. Fatigue severity was assessed using the Fatigue Severity Questionnaire (FSS), quality of life through 36-question questionnaire (Sf-36) and pulmonary function through spirometry. The comparison of the mean data of the two groups was done using Mann-Whitney U test and independent t-test by SPSS-27 software.

Factors including fatigue (P<0.001), Overall Quality of Life (P>0.001), physical health (P<0.001), mental health (P=0.002), physical function subscale (P<0.001), limitation due to physical function (P<0.001), energy and vitality (P=0.000), social function (P<0.001), pain (P<0.001) and also a pulmonary function of FVC (P<0.001) and FEV1 (P<0.001) were significantly different between the recovered and healthy groups. However, there was no significant difference between the two groups in the FEV1/FVC ratio (P=0.170) and the limitations due to emotional problems (P=0.816) and mental health (P=0.159).

Compared to healthy people, recovered COVID-19 patients are more likely to have reduced quality of life, increased fatigue, and impaired pulmonary function.

Genetic engineering studies on the TP53INP1 gene have determined that a dysfunctional mitochondrial mitophagy disorder is the main source of chronic oxidative stress and leads to an increased susceptibility to diabetes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between rs896854 polymorphism of TP53INP1 gene and type 2 diabetes.

In this case-control study, blood samples were collected from 124 patients with type 2 diabetes and 100 healthy individuals from the residents of Delijan City, Markazi Province, Iran, in 2022. After extracting genomic DNA by the salting out method, the rs896854 location in the TP53INP1 gene was evaluated using the Tetra-Primer Arms-PCR method.

The frequency rates of TT, CC, and TC genotypes were 13%, 29%, and 58% in the patient group and 12%, 17%, and 71% in the control group, respectively. In addition, the frequency rates of T and C alleles were 42% and 58% in the patient group and 47.5% and 52.5% in the control group, respectively. Statistical analysis using the Chi-square test revealed that the rs896854 polymorphism of TP53INP1 gene had no significant relationship with the occurrence of diabetes in the studied population (P<0.05).

According to the current findings, the presence of T or C allele at rs896854 location in TP53INP1 gene had no significant relationship with the probability of the occurrence of type 2 diabetes. To confirm these findings, it is necessary to carry out further investigations in different populations with a larger sample size.

In late December 2019, COVID-19 has been reported in China. This study was conducted to investigate the epidemiological findings and clinical outcomes of patients with inflammatory and non-inflammatory connective tissue diseases infected with COVID-19 omicron variant.

In this cross-sectional study, the medical files of 159 connective tissue patients infected with COVID-19 Omicron variant referred to Shahid Beheshti Hospital in Kashan, Iran, were examined from winter 2021 to spring 2022. A checklist containing the epidemiological characteristics and clinical outcomes of the patients was completed and data analysis was done by SPSS software.

Most of the patients were women (84.4%) and the mean age of the patients was 51.85 years. The most common underlying diseases were diabetes (18.9%) and hypertension (13.8%). Among the patients, 44.7% had rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoarthritis and lupus were in the next order with 15.7% and 10.7%, respectively. The most common clinical symptoms were myalgia (84.9%) and fever (78.6%). Also, 32.7% of patients had lymphopenia and 74.8% had high CRP. In addition, the results of chest CT scans were reported as moderate to severe in 42.7% of the patients. In addition, COVID-19 was severe in 41.5% of patients. Finally, Five patients (1.3%) died.

The clinical and laboratory findings related to the Omicron variant in the present study are similar to other variants of COVID-19. Nevertheless, the findings of lung CT scan images and mortality in the present study are higher than the delta variant of COVID-19.

The aim of this review study was to compare the effect of high-intensity interval training (HIIT), and moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) on cardiometabolic factors in children and teenagers with overweight and obesity.

A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, SID, Magiran, and Google Scholar databases for English and Persian articles published until December 2022. A meta-analysis was performed to compare the effect of HIIT and MICT on cardiometabolic factors (body fat percentage, free fat mass, maximum oxygen consumption, systolic blood pressure (SBP), and diastolic blood pressure (DBS) in children and teenagers with overweight and obesity.  

The results of 15 studies with 429 children and teenagers with overweight and obesity showed that HIIT caused a significant decrease in body fat percentage [WMD=-0.59, P=0.04], and SBP [WMD=-1.98, P=0.004]. In addition, the results showed that HIIT caused a significant increase in the maximum oxygen consumption [SMD=0.65, P=0.001], compared to MICT in children and teenagers with overweight and obesity. In contrast, HIIT causes a non-significant change in free fat mass [WMD=0.65, P=0.5], serum HDL [SMD=0.06, (CI: P=0.5], DBP [WMD=-0.6, P=0.7], and body weight [WMD=-0.33, P=0.7], compared to MICT in children and teenagers with overweight and obesity.

HIIT reduces body fat percentage and SBP, and increases maximum oxygen consumption, compared to MICT in children and teenagers with overweight and obesity. Therefore, HIIT is recommended as a non-drug solution to reduce cardiometabolic risk factors in children and teenagers with overweight and obesity.

Different sport exercises may have different effects on the control and treatment of diabetes. The aim of this review was to analyze the recent studies related to the effect of different sports activities on the indicators related to type 2 diabetes.

Persian and Latin databases of PubMed, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, Magiran and SID were searched using the keywords, including exercise training, resistance training, high-intensity interval training, diabetes, insulin sensitivity, HbA1c, aerobic training and combined training to retrieve published papers during 2010-2022.

In total, out of 140 papers in the initial screening, 35 papers were finally reviewed. Aerobic exercises and especially high-intensity interval training (HIIT) may have faster effects in the process of controlling and reducing blood sugar in patients, however, the positive effects of resistance exercises remain for a longer period.

The beneficial effects of various types of sport exercises in controlling the glycemic indices of patients with type 2 diabetes have been proven. However, the present study showed that the beneficial effects of resistance exercises compared to endurance exercises can last for a longer period. Thus, it is suggested that sport medicine experts should pay attention to the importance of the type and form of sport exercises when presenting exercise programs to patients.

Oral pyogenic granuloma is a common and non-neoplastic disease. This vascular tumor has no specific cause and is attributed to various factors such as trauma, viruses such as HSV-1, hormonal changes, and other factors such as teething or medication. It is clinically painless and tends to bleed. The lesion is mostly red in color and rarely may be associated with periodontal abscess and bone loss.

Case report:

 A 7-year-old girl with a painless gingival lesion that has been growing slowly in the last two months is examined.

To definitively diagnose such lesions, a biopsy is needed. The treatment is usually surgical excision, but recently the use of lasers has become common in the treatment of soft tissue lesions.