Trastornos sensitivos genitales y maltrato psicológico en la relación de pareja: una revisión bibliográfica / Sensitive genital disorders and psychological abuse in the couple relationship: a bibliographic review

INTRODUCCIÓN: Los trastornos sensitivos genitales y su relación con el maltrato psicológico en la pareja es un tema poco tratado en la literatura y, sin embargo, presente en la entrevista médica y psicológica. Aplica para aquellos casos en que no se aprecia alteración en la exploración física suficiente como para atribuirlo a causas orgánicas. OBJETIVO: Recopilar e integrar diferentes visiones acerca del síntoma de insensibilidad genital durante las relaciones sexuales, definir si este síntoma corresponde a una disfunción sexual e indagar sobre su relación con la violencia psicológica en la relación de pareja. MÉTODO: Revisión bibliográfica. Resultados: Los trastornos sensitivos cuya base orgánica es descartada no corresponderían a una disfunción sexual, sino más bien a una alteración sensorial disociativa como respuesta a una situación de violencia psicológica acompañada de violencia sexual en todos los casos. CONCLUSIONES: La insensibilidad genital es un tema que debe ser considerado al hacer la anamnesis de una paciente, para así ser derivada a un especialista con la intención de abordarlo de forma interdisciplinaria y, por ende, evaluar y diferenciar los elementos orgánicos y funcionales del síntoma.

INTRODUCTION: Genital sensory disorders and how they relate to psychological abuse in the couple is a topic that is scarcely address in the literature, however present it might be in medical and psychological interviews. It is often found in cases where there is no perceived sufficient alteration in physical examinations in order to attribute it to organic causes. OBJECTIVE: To collect and integrate different views regarding the symptom of genital insensitivity during sexual intercourse, define whether this symptom relates to sexual dysfunction and inquire about its connection with psychological violence in the couple. METHOD: Bibliographic assessment. Results: Sensory disorders, whose organic basis is ruled out, do not relate to sexual dysfunction but rather to a dissociative sensory alteration in response to a situation of psychological violence accompanied, in all cases, by sexual violence. CONCLUSIONS: Genital insensitivity is an issue that must be taken into account at the time of taking the patients medical history. This way, it can be referred to a specialist with the intention of addressing it in an interdisciplinary way and, therefore, evaluate and differentiate the organic and functional elements of the symptom.

Oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation indexes and antioxidant vitamins in long and middle distance athletes during a sport season.

BACKGROUND: The main objective of this study was to observe any changes and possible adaptations produced in MDA and antioxidants vitamins on plasma and erythrocytes in endurance male athletes among an athletic season (12 months). METHODS: Twenty three long and middle distance male athletes participated in this study. Basal MDA on plasma and antioxidant vitamins in plasma and erythrocytes were measured at four moments along the season (0, 3, 6 and 9 months). Fatty acid concentrations in erythrocytes were obtained to determine lipid peroxidation indexes. RESULTS: In plasma, vitamin C suffered significant decreases at 3 and 6 months compared with the begin (P<0.01), and an increase at 9 months, compared with 3 months. On the other hand, vitamin A level was significantly lower at 9 months compared with the other periods (P<0.01 compared with 0 and 6 months; P<0.05 compared with 3 months). In erythrocytes, significant decreases were observed in vitamin E among the season at 6 months and an increase from 6 to 9 months (P<0.05). Vitamin A suffers a significant decrease in both for competitive periods, at 3 and 9 months, compared with the beginning of the season. The most of changes in lipid peroxidation indexes were produced along the firsts 3 months. CONCLUSIONS: 1) Physical training improves the antioxidant systems in order to reduce lipid peroxidation in trained athletes along the season; 2) PUFA/SFA ratios seem more reliable than MDA to observe oxidative stress.

IL-1ß induced methylation of the estrogen receptor ERα gene correlates with EMT and chemoresistance in breast cancer cells.

Inflammation has been recently acknowledged as a key participant in the physiopathology of oncogenesis and tumor progression. The inflammatory cytokine IL-1ß has been reported to induce the expression of markers associated with malignancy in breast cancerous cells through Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT). Aggressive breast cancer tumors classified as Triple Negative do not respond to hormonal treatment because they lack three crucial receptors, one of which is the estrogen receptor alpha (ERα). Expression of ERα is then considered a good prognostic marker for tamoxifen treatment of this type of cancer, as the binding of this drug to the receptor blocks the transcriptional activity of the latter. Although it has been suggested that inflammatory cytokines in the tumor microenvironment could regulate ERα expression, the mechanism(s) involved in this process have not yet been established. We show here that, in a cell model of breast cancer cells (6D cells), in which the inflammatory cytokine IL-1ß induces EMT by activation of the IL-1ß/IL-1RI/ß-catenin pathway, the up regulation of TWIST1 leads to methylation of the ESR1 gene promoter. This epigenetic modification produced significant decrease of the ERα receptor levels and increased resistance to tamoxifen. The direct participation of IL-1ß in these processes was validated by blockage of the cytokine-induced signaling pathway by wortmannin inactivation of the effectors PI3K/AKT. These results support our previous reports that have suggested direct participation of the inflammatory cytokine IL-1ß in the transition to malignancy of breast cancer cells.

Serum concentration of several trace metals and physical training.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to observe the concentrations of trace metals boron, lithium, rubidium, antimony, tin and strontium in the serum of athletes from different modalities and sedentary subjects and the possible influence that different energy sports training modalities can have on their concentration. METHODS: Eighty professional athletes and 31 sedentary males participated in the present survey. All of them were living in Cáceres (Spain). Serum boron, lithium, rubidium, antimony, tin and strontium analysis was performed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). RESULTS: The results show higher concentrations in athletes on tin (p < 0.01), rubidium and antimony (p < 0.001) than the control group. In the case of tin, this item had the highest concentrations only in aerobic sports modalities. Regarding rubidium and antimony, the highest concentrations are found in athletes with lower oxygen consumption (aerobic-anaerobic) (p < 0.001), followed by anaerobic group (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Our research shows that, probably due to increased water and air intake, especially, trace elements rubidium, antimony and tin reveal major differences in serum concentration of athletes in relation to sedentary subjects. On the other hand, physical training does not change the serum concentration of Boron, Lithium and strontium.

Effects of a physical activity program on the urinary collagen crosslinks in pre- and postmenopausal women.

BACKGROUND: This study analyzes the effects of physical exercise on urinary collagen crosslinks, pyridinoline (PYD) and deoxipyridinoline (DPD), in women. METHODS: Thirty premenopausal (PRE) and 40 postmenopausal (PST) women took part in a six month randomized controlled trial of moderate physical exercise. Moreover, skinfold thickness, muscle strength and flexibility were evaluated. RESULTS: Basal values of urinary PYD and DPD were higher in postmenopausal women versus premenopausal women (P<0.01). Physical exercise increased in both groups urinary PYD levels (P<0.05) and urinary DPD levels in postmenopausal women (P<0.05). After the exercise program, no changes were observed in the levels of urinary DPD in premenopausal women. Significant improvements in flexibility, muscle strength and decrease in skinfolds thickness were observed in the exercise group. No changes were observed in non-exercise group. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, the physical activity program produced beneficial effects on muscle strength and flexibility and changes in the musculoskeletal system. Also, the physical activity program led to a non-pathological increase in the urinary elimination of bone reabsorption and collagen metabolism biomarkers.