نشریه دانشور پزشکی
پیاپی 168 (آذر و دی 1402)

Today, diabetes is a major health problem with an increasing prevalence in men. It has been stated that high glucose leads to increased oxidative stress and apoptosis in testicular cells and causes testicular cell death and infertility. This study was conducted to investigate and determine the effect of nettle hydroalcoholic extract and endurance exercises on testicular tissue and spermatogenesis factors in streptozotocin (STZ)-diabetic male rats. In this experimental study, 40 albino rats weighing 200-220 grams were randomly divided into 5 groups: control-healthy (HC), nettle-diabetes (DG), exercise-diabetes (DT, nettle-exercise), diabetes (DTG), and control diabetes (DC). Endurance training was performed for 6 weeks according to the protocol. At the same time, rats of DG and DTG groups received nettle hydroalcoholic extract at a dose of 45 mg per kg of body weight. After 6 weeks, the testes were removed and stained with H&E technique. In the DTG and the DG groups, both spermatogenesis index (SI) and repopulation index (RI) were higher compared to the DT group and were close to the results of the healthy control group. Also, the histopathology of the testis in these two groups showed a higher improvement compared to the DT group and similar results were obtained with the results of the HC group. The present study showed that diabetes has destructive effects on spermatogenesis and testicular tissue and administration of nettle and endurance exercises together can protect spermatogenic cells in seminiferous tubules from the harmful effects of diabetes by improving SI and RI percentages.

Covid-19 pandemic that occurred in 2019 was a critical health issue worldwide. Medical students should be evaluated in terms of awareness, attitude and performance towards this pandemic. This study was designed and implemented with the aim of investigating the knowledge, attitude and performance of medical students of Shahed University.
This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2021. All medical students of Shahed University who met the inclusion criteria were included in the study after sampling. These students completed the questionnaire of knowledge, attitude and performance towards the prevention of covid-19, whose validity and reliability were measured. The information of these questionnaires was entered into SPSS software version 26 and subjected to statistical analysis.
In this study, 170 students were included. The average score of students' knowledge, attitude and performance was 20.70 (out of 25), 11.42 (13) and 53.50 (out of 60), respectively. There was a significant relationship between mean score of knowledge, attitude and performance towards the prevention of Covid-19 in students according to gender, marital status and educational level (P<0.05). Increased awareness was associated with increased attitude and performance.
: This study showed that the medical students of Shahed University have good and high knowledge, attitude and performance towards the prevention of Covid-19 disease.

In the past few decades, research on the role of physical activity in the prevention of cancer and disease progression has been the subject of attention of many researchers. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of 6 weeks of aerobic training and high intensity interval training on the expression of uPA and uPAR in the tumor tissue of female mice with breast cancer.
24 female Balb c mice with breast cancer were randomly divided into 3 groups: tumor (T), tumor + aerobic training (T+AE) and tumor + high intensity interval training (T+HIIT). The T+AE group had incremental endurance treadmill running for 6 weeks/5 days/60 minutes. The T+HIIT group had a 6-week/3-day/60 min high intensity interval training protocol. Then, the mice were killed, the tumor tissue was removed and frozen in liquid nitrogen. The expression of uPA and uPAR genes was measured by Real Time-PCR method. ΔCT, ΔΔCT, fold change, one-way ANOVA and Tukey's tests were performed at a significant level P<0.05 with GENEX software .
The results of the present study showed that in the T+AE group compared to the T group, the expression of uPA and uPAR decreased (P=0.00) 2.07 and 2.55 times. In the T+HIIT group compared to the T group, the expression of uPA and uPAR decreased 4.25 and 7.74 times (P=0.00), and in the T+HIIT group compared to the T+AE group, the expression of uPA and uPAR decreased 2.04 and 3.03 times (P=0.00).
Aerobic training and high intensity interval training are probably effective in preventing the progression of breast cancer by reducing the expression of uPA and uPAR.

High-fat diet (HFD) leads to adverse changes in skeletal muscles. Regular exercise reduces skeletal muscle disorders by maintaining physical function. This study aimed to assess the effect of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on muscle strength, endurance capacity, food consumed, energy intake, and Lee index in male rats consuming a HFD and normal diet (ND). 44 rats were divided into four equal groups, including ND control, HFD control, HIIT+ ND, and HIIT+ HFD. The HIIT was performed for 12 weeks at 85-90% of the maximum speed. Data were analyzed by repeated measures analysis of variance and one-way analysis of variance at a significance level of P<0.05. Food consumed and energy intake were lower and higher, respectively in the HFD control group compared with the ND control. Also, the body weight, Lee index, food consumed, and energy intake in the HIIT+HFD group were significantly lower than in the HFD control group and Lee index and food consumed in the HIIT+HFD group were significantly lower than in the HIIT+ND group. Furthermore, the endurance capacity in the HIIT+HFD group was significantly higher than in the HFD control group and in the HIIT+ND group was significantly higher than the ND and HFD controls. Absolute and relative muscle strength also increased and decreased in all groups, respectively. It seems that performing HIIT despite consuming a HFD leads to improved physical function and reduced body weight gain.

Being overweight and obese during adolescence is associated with a wide range of complications and an increased risk of sudden occurrence of physical problems, mental disorders, and some cancers. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of spinning training and capsaicin consumption on body composition and VO2 max in overweight adolescents. In this quasi-experimental study, with a pre- and post-test design and a placebo group, 60 overweight teenagers with BMI=26.52±1.38 kg/m2 were selected purposefully and using a systematic random method were divided into 4 groups of 15 people (Exercise, Supplement, Combined, and Placebo). The spinning training protocol was performed for 10 weeks and 3 sessions per week. Furthermore, supplement and combined groups consumed capsules containing 500 mg of capsaicin extract with the usual breakfast for 10 weeks. The measurement of height, weight, BMI, and Vo2 max was done in two stages, pre-test, and post-test. In order to analyze the data, multivariate covariance, and post hoc Bonferroni tests were used using SPSS26 software at a significant level (P<0.05). The results of the study showed that the exercise and combined (Exercise+Supplement) interventions caused a significant reduction in weight, fat percentage, and BMI of overweight teenagers (p=0.001). In addition, a significant increase in Vo2 max was observed in both exercise and combined training groups (p=0.001). Moreover, the changes caused by the combined group on all variables were significantly more than other groups. These findings indicate the beneficial effects of the interactive effect of spinning exercise and capsaicin consumption on body composition and VO2 max. Therefore, using spinning exercises and capsaicin herbal supplements is recommended as a suitable method to lose weight in overweight teenagers.

Ischemic stroke is one of the main causes of death and disability in the world. Despite advancements, treatments have not achieved the desired results yet. Since microRNAs can be promising candidates for ischemic stroke diagnosis and treatment, this study investigated the impact of ischemic stroke on oxidative stress, inflammation, and miRNA149-5p expression in the striatum region in a rat model of ischemia-reperfusion brain injury.

In this research, 42 Male Wistar rats were divided into sham and ischemic groups. Using the middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model, cerebral ischemia was induced in the target group. After 24 hours, neurological deficits, cerebral edema, blood-brain barrier permeability, miRNA149-5p expression, and enzymes related to oxidative stress and inflammation were evaluated. Data were statistically analyzed using GraphPad Prism software and unpaired t test.

The results of this study indicated that ischemic stroke leads to a decrease in neurological function, increased cerebral edema, and higher blood-brain barrier permeability. Furthermore, it resulted in elevated levels of oxidative and inflammatory factors and reduced levels of antioxidant factors in the striatum region. Additionally, ischemic stroke significantly caused downregulation of miRNA149-5p expression.

This study demonstrated that miRNA149-5p changes in rats subjected to ischemic stroke. This finding could contribute to a better understanding of therapeutic and diagnostic methods for stroke.

High-fat diet (HFD) causes disturbances in energy production pathways and increases the possibility of insulin resistance (IR). The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on metabolic profile associated with IR in male rats fed with HFD and standard diet (SD).

32 male rats (aged 7-8 weeks) were divided into four equal groups including HIIT+HFD, HIIT+SD, HFD control, and SD control. Then, HIIT (12 weeks, five sessions per week at intensity of 85-90% of maximum oxygen consumption) and diet interventions were applied and finally, the gastrocnemius muscle was removed for tissue examination by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. One-way analysis of variance, one-way analysis of covariance, and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used for data analysis at a significance level of P < 0.05.

The level of citric acid in the gastrocnemius muscle was significantly lower in the HFD control group than in the SD control group. In addition, the level of citric acid in HIIT+SD and HIIT+HFD groups was significantly higher than in the HFD control group. There was no significant difference between the levels of malate, glucose 6-phosphate, ribose, xylose, and ribulose 5-phosphate metabolites among the groups. Also, the body weight in the HIIT+SD and HIIT+HFD groups was significantly lower than the HFD control group.

HFD limits the aerobic energy provision of skeletal muscles by reducing the level of muscle citric acid as an important intermediate metabolite in the TCA cycle. HIIT can be effectively reduced metabolic disorders caused by HFD by increasing the level of citric acid and reducing the slope of body weight gain.

Diabetes is a metabolic disease that is associated with infertility disorders and testicular tissue apoptosis. The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of 6 weeks of endurance training along with the consumption of nettle hydroalcoholic extract on the apoptosis of the testicular tissue of diabetic rats.
58 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups: "healthy control", "control diabetes", "exercise diabetes", "supplementary diabetes" and "supplementary exercise diabetes". Diabetes was induced by intraperitoneal injection of 45 mg/kg STZ dissolved in fresh citrate buffer. Nettle plant extract was fed to the animals for 6 weeks. The endurance training protocol was performed for 6 weeks and 48 hours after the last training session, the rats were dissected and their testicular tissue was extracted. Tunnel staining method was used to check the apoptosis of testicular tissue. The results of the Kolmogorov Smirnov and Lunn tests were used to check the normality of the data and the homogeneity of the variances. Also, one-way analysis of variance (Tukey's post hoc test) was used to compare groups for the studied variables.
Data analysis showed that apoptosis was significantly reduced in the "exercise diabetes", "supplementary diabetes" and "supplementary exercise diabetes" groups compared to the "control diabetes" group (P = 0.001). Nettle plant extract and endurance exercise in diabetic rats reduced testicular tissue apoptosis.
Consumption of nettle hydroalcoholic extract along with endurance exercise can reduce the apoptosis of testicular tissue in diabetic rats. Therefore, it is suggested to have exercise as a non-pharmacological intervention and nettle plant, which is a non-chemical intervention, to reduce the complications caused by diabetes in the field of fertility.