Effects of short- and long-term regular exercise on reproductive tissue in streptozotocin-induced diabetic male Wistar rats.

OBJECTIVE: Reproductive disorders are one of the complications of diabetes mellitus. Since conflicting results have been obtained from different studies, which examined serum levels of cytokines in patients with diabetes, and considering the fact that the origin of cytokines cannot be accurately determined from their serum changes, attempts were made in the present study to study histological changes and testicular tissue levels of TNF-α and IL-1 in rats treated with exercise. Considering the effects of exercise in reducing blood sugar level and its complications, two types of short-term and long-term regular exercises were also considered to evaluate their effects on male reproductive tissues. METHODS: In this study, 60 male rats with the weight range of 250±50 g were used and were randomly divided into six groups (10 rats each). Healthy groups included sedentary control group, and groups treated with two and eight weeks of exercise. Rats with type 1 diabetes (induced by streptozotocin) included sedentary control group, groups treated with two and eight weeks of exercise (six groups). All groups were evaluated in terms of testicular tissue levels of TNF-α and IL-1 using ELISA and the histometry of spermatogonia, primary spermatocytes, Sertoli cells, epithelial thickness, diameter of veins, and thickness of the seminiferous tubule. RESULTS: Histological changes resulting from diabetes, particularly in the diameter of testicular veins and a number of cells, including Sertoli, highlights the important fact that tissue perfusion in patients with diabetes is especially crucial, in a way that exercise proved useful for tissue structures by offsetting this complication. Measurement of the cytokines IL-1 and TNF-α in the current study showed that perfusion problems are more important in diabetic complications than inflammatory factors. CONCLUSIONS: The main result of this research is recommendation of investigating the tissue of interest for diagnosis of diabetes complications, measuring inflammatory mediators of tissue rather than evaluating their serum concentrations, and focusing on vascular complications as a major complication of diabetes. Furthermore, regular exercise could help improve the function of reproductive organs in healthy groups and prevent diabetes infertility complications to an acceptable degree in diabetic groups.

HPV typing in women with cervical precancerous and cancerous lesions in northwestern Iran.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The role of human papillomavirus (HPV) in the etiology of cervical cancer is now well established. This investigation was designed to study the prevalence of the four most common high-risk HPVs in the archival tissues with precancerous and cancerous lesions from patients from northwestern Iran. METHODS: 133 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue specimens were tested for HPV DNA by using GP5+/6+-based general PCR and two type-specific PCRs. RESULTS: In total, 84 (64%) out of 131 amplifiable samples were positive for HPV DNA. The most prevalent oncogenic HPV was type 16 (67.6%) followed by types 31 (22.8%), 18 (7.6%) and 33 (1%). Multiple HPV infections were present in 20 (15.3%) of the 131 samples. Notably, of these 20 cases with multiple infections, 15 were from patients with invasive cervical cancer. CONCLUSIONS: The multiplicity of HPV genotypes was noted in invasive cervical carcinoma samples, along with rather different circulating HPV types in the study population. Hence, relevant HPV typing information in cervical carcinoma is very important for planning more efficient screening programs and for further HPV vaccine design.

Attenuation of phosphorylated connexin-43 protein levels in diabetic rat heart by regular moderate exercise.

BACKGROUND: High blood glucose levels increase the ratio of phosphorylated to non-phosphorylated connexin-43 amounts, which leads to the decomposition of the hyperphosphorylated connexin-43. This can cause heart arrhythmia in diabetic patients. Considering the effective role of exercise in diabetic patients, and because there are few studies regarding the effect of exercise on phosphorylated connexin-43 protein levels, in the present study the impact of different periods of moderate regular exercise on phosphorylated Connexion-43 levels were examined. METHODS: Sixty (60) male Wistar rats (300 ± 50 g) were randomly divided into six groups (n = 10). A week after induction of diabetes by injection of streptozotocin, one hour treadmill exercise, 5 days a week with 22 (m/min) speeds was undertaken. Left ventricles of hearts were isolated and immediately frozen. Finally, phosphorylated connexin-43 protein levels were measured by ELISA method. RESULTS: The means of blood glucose levels were significantly decreased (P < 0/05) by increasing days of exercise. The means of blood glucose levels were significantly decreased (P < 0/05) by increasing days of exercise. Regular moderate exercise reduced the connexin-43 levels by increasing days of exercise (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: It is concluded that regular moderate exercise reduces the amount of phosphorylated connexin-43 protein levels in the ventricular myocardium, by reducing blood glucose levels. This can result in partial inhibition of cardiac arrhythmia observed in diabetic patients. This research was done in Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran.

Accuracy of 64-multidetector computed tomography in diagnosis of adnexal tumors.

BACKGROUND: Adnexal cancers are in fifth place among the tumors with the highest mortality in the female population. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the accuracy of Multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) on a 64-multislice CT scanner in the detection and differentiation of adnexal masses stages. METHODS: During the present prospective study, 95 women with a primary diagnosis of ovarian mass in base of clinical examination and ultrasonographic findings underwent preoperative evaluation by a 64-slice MDCT with a section thickness of 0.6 mm, 50% overlap and reconstructed images. Afterward, results of MDCT were compared with surgical and histopathological findings, and the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value and accuracy were determined. RESULTS: The mean age of patients was 48.63 ± 13.93 years. MDCT diagnosed 25 (26.3%) masses to be benign and 70 (73.7%) to be malignant (sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value and accuracy were 92.8%, 88.0%, 95.5%, 81.4% and 91.5% respectively). The sensitivity and specificity of MDCT in determining local extension was 72.2% and 93.4% respectively. And the sensitivity and specificity of MDCT in determining peritoneal seeding and liver extension was 81.8% and 93% respectively. Estimated stage was significantly agreed with the surgical (Cohen's Kappa (κ) = 0.891) and histopathological findings (κ = 0.858). CONCLUSION: MDCT is a highly sensitive and specific diagnostic method in evaluation of adnexal masses and successfully stage the tumor in consistent with surgery and histopathology.