The Protective Effect of Oxitard on Sperm Function and Antioxidant Status in Rats Exposed to Swimming Stress.

BACKGROUND: Infertility is a significant public health issue, but its impact on quality of life and treatment efficacy is limited. Modern medicine lacks safe and effective drugs for male infertility, while traditional medicine has explored herbal extracts like Oxitard, which contains multiple extracts and oils. This study aimed to investigate the effects of Oxitard on male rats exposed to swimming (SW) stress. METHODS: Albino rats weighing 220-250 g were divided into five groups: control, SW stress, and SW treated with Oxitard at low, medium, and high doses of 250, 500, and 750 mg/kg/day, respectively. The rats were subjected to SW stress for 15 days and then assessed for body weight, reproductive organ weight, testosterone, antioxidant status, sperm function, and histological changes in the testes, seminal vesicles, and vas deferens. RESULTS: The results showed that SW stress significantly reduced body weight, seminal vesicle weight, testosterone levels, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), sperm count, sperm motility, sperm viability, and significantly increased malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. The testes of the SW-stress group rats also showed a significant decrease in spermatogenesis and the number of seminiferous tubules containing sperm. In contrast, treatment with Oxitard, especially at the highest dose, demonstrated potent free radical scavenging activity, recovering antioxidant status, and sperm function. CONCLUSION: SW stress led to decreased sperm function, antioxidant status, and increased lipid peroxidation (LPO) in male rats. Oxitard treatment, particularly in high doses, showed a potential role as a free radical scavenger in treating oxidative stress (OS)-associated male infertility. Further studies are needed to investigate the individual components of Oxitard and conduct clinical trials in human subjects.

Oral manifestations of magnesium and vitamin D inadequacy.

Adequate nutrition is essential for maintaining good oral health. Minerals such as magnesium, calcium, and phosphorus found in the diet constitute the main structural components of the tooth. Their inadequacy leads to absorption impairment, increased bleeding tendency, bone resorption, looseness, and premature tooth loss. Inadequacy of those essential minerals is associated with delayed tooth eruption and with enamel or dentin hypoplasia. Taking calcium without magnesium results in soft dental enamel, which cannot resist the acids causing tooth decay. In addition to magnesium, calcium, and phosphorus, adequate vitamin D is needed to maintain optimal oral health. Vitamin D exerts anti-inflammatory effects and helps in calcium absorption and bone remodeling. Moreover, adequate vitamin D status could reduce formation of dental caries by delaying its onset and progression. Here we summarize the oral manifestations of vitamin D and magnesium inadequacy.

The Relationship Between Self-Esteem, Emotional Intelligence, and Empathy Among Students From Six Health Professional Programs.

Theory: Psychosocial skills such as communication, empathy, and emotional intelligence are now considered key attributes of health professionals. Self-esteem is another important construct that is less well studied. Self-esteem is important because low levels have been linked to depression, suicide, and eating disorders. Given that health professional students experience high levels of stress and are at increased risk for similar psychopathology, self-esteem may be an important variable in student well-being and performance after graduation. Hypotheses: This study sought to explore self-esteem during students' 1st year of training hypothesizing that several would demonstrate low self-esteem. It is also hypothesized that emotional intelligence and empathy would be associated with self-esteem. Method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted, and data were gathered from dental, medical, nursing, optometry, pharmacy and veterinary students. Self-report questionnaires assessing self-esteem, emotional intelligence, and empathy were completed and demographic information was collected. Scores were calculated and differences between groups analyzed with analysis of variance and chi-square testing. Pearson's correlation was used to assess associations between the constructs. Results: The mean self-esteem score was 26.2 ± 2.3 but 21% of the sample evidenced low self-esteem. There was no difference in the proportion of students demonstrating low self-esteem among programs. Gender did not have a significant effect on self-esteem scores, though ethnicity did. Emotional intelligence scores were higher among male individuals than among female. Emotional intelligence and empathy showed a small association with self-esteem. Conclusions: A significant proportion of health professional students suffer from low self-esteem during their 1st year of study. Such students may be more susceptible to the stresses associated with study and the development of psychopathology. More research needs to be conducted to explore the relationships between self-esteem, emotional intelligence, and empathy with a view to strengthening training in these areas and managing the challenges faced by health professional students.

Feasibility of an electrostimulation system treatment for wound healing: a case series of patients with chronic ulcers in Barbados.

Major advances have been made in the development of new therapies for chronic wounds. Fenzian™, an electrostimulation system (ES), has been clinically used for a variety of conditions. The ES was recently tested in the Barbadian population for tolerability and acceptability by asthma patients, with encouraging results. Barbados has an estimated 170 people with diabetes having some form of lower-extremity amputation annually. Here, we describe a case series of 21 chronic ulcer patients with diabetes recruited as inpatients (n = 10) and outpatients (n = 11) in a pilot study to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of ES in the Barbadian population. Results showed statistically significant improvement among those in the inpatient- versus outpatient-recruited group for wound perimeter (P = 0·04), wound surface area (P = 0·03) and wound volume (P = 0·08). We also demonstrate that the improvement continued after cessation of ES treatment. Participants reported increased levels of pain at the end of treatment, and there was no statistically significant change in the reported quality of life. Our results showed greater improvements in reduction of ulcer size for participants from the inpatient- versus outpatient-recruited group.