Changes of the Patellar Tendon Moment rm Length in Different Knee Angles: A Biomechanical in Vivo Study.

Patellar tendon moment arm length (PTma) changes at different knee flexion angles have not been determined in in vivo studies. We aimed to determine PTma in four different knee angles using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to predict in vivo changes in the moment arm length from different knee angles during running. PTma was measured as the perpendicular distance from muscle-tendon line of action to the knee joint axis of rotation at 0° (full extension), 20°, 40°, and 60° flexion of knee by using MRI method. Repeated measure ANOVA method was applied to compare the moment arm length among four degrees of knee flexion (P<0.05). A regression analysis was used to predict the PTma during different knee joint angles. The PTma in the four angles at 0°, 20°, 40°, and 60° of knee flexion were 42.55±4.20, 39.91±2.98, 37.73±2.87, and 36.18±2.90 mm, respectively (P<0.05). The regression analysis provided an equation to predict the PTma from different knee joint angles during running. PTma values decreased from knee extension to flexion in a linear manner. These findings have important implications for estimating PTma using a regression equation model from different knee joint angles.

Effects of patellar taping on knee pain, functional disability, and patellar alignments in patients with patellofemoral pain syndrome: A randomized clinical trial.

QUESTION: What are the effects of patellar taping on pain, functional disability and patellar alignments in Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS)? DESIGN: Double-blind randomized clinical trial. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty PFPS Patients were randomly divided into two groups, intervention and control. INTERVENTION: Patients in control group received only the routine physiotherapy. In addition to routine physiotherapy, patellar taping was used in the intervention group. Each patient was treated for 12 sessions over a period of 4 weeks. OUTCOME MEASURES: The KOOS and VAS questionnaires were used to assess the quality of life (QOL) and pain intensity, respectively. Three components of patellar alignment including Patellofemoral Congruence Angle (PFCA), Lateral Patellofemoral Angle (LPFA) and Lateral Patellar Displacement (LPD) were evaluated using the skyline radiography method. RESULTS: The results indicated that there was no significant difference between the control and intervention groups for LPD (P = 0.586), PFCA (P = 0.704) and LPFA (P = 0.176) variables. No significant difference was found between the two groups in all items of the KOOS questionnaire. The knee pain intensity was significantly reduced in both the intervention (P < 0.001) and control (P = 0.001) groups at the end of the 4th week. CONCLUSION: The results of the present study indicated that patellar taping compared to routine physiotherapy treatments had no beneficial effects on pain reduction, QOL improvement and correction of patellar alignment in PSPS patients. TRIAL REGISTRATION: IRCT201111012851N2.

Comparison of quality of life in low back pain patients and healthy subjects by using WHOQOL-BREF.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Low back pain and consequence disability is one of the most prevalence musculoskeletal disorders that human being ever had involved. Quality of life is a multidimensional concept and is beyond absolute physical health. In this study, we compared QOL between low back pain patients and healthy people using WHOQOL-BREF which is a generic and overall instrument. METHODS: This descriptive-analytic study was carried out on 256 low back pain patients and healthy people in Shahid Beheshti Hospital, Babol. They filled out the questionnaires personally and the scores of different domains in two groups were compared. WHOQOL-BREF has four domains of physical health, psychological health, social relations and environment health. The range of scores in each of these domains is from 4-20. The two questions are about the general quality of life and general health. Overall, a higher score indicates better quality of life. RESULTS: The participants' age range was from 18 to 63 with the mean ± SD of 36.63 ± 10.99. The scores of these four domains and general quality of life and general health of WHOQOL-BREF were lower in low back pain patients. These differences were statistically significant in physical health and environmental health. CONCLUSIONS: Lower QOL in low back pain patients necessitate doing some interventions such as education and rehabilitation in this group. This indicates the importance of more attention to these patients to plan future treatments in order to reinforce these domains.

Continuous exercise training and curcumin attenuate changes in brain-derived neurotrophic factor and oxidative stress induced by lead acetate in the hippocampus of male rats.

CONTEXT: For many years it has been known that lead is life-threatening, not only as an air pollutant but also because of it has been associated with several conditions including neurodegenerative disease. Curcumin (the principal curcuminoid found in turmeric) has demonstrated potent antioxidant properties. OBJECTIVE: We investigated neuroprotective effects of endurance exercise and/or curcumin on lead acetate-induced neurotoxicity in the rat hippocampus. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups: 1) lead acetate, 2) curcumin, 3) training, 4) training + curcumin, and 5) control. The rats in the training groups performed treadmill running five times a week for 8 weeks (15-22 m/min, 25-64 min). All groups except control received lead acetate (20 mg/kg), whereas the control group received curcumin solution (ethyl oleate). In addition, the curcumin and training + curcumin groups received curcumin solution (30 mg/kg) intraperioneally. RESULTS: Lead acetate resulted in a significantly increase in the malondialdehyde (MDA) in plasma (72%), but not significant in hippocampus (59%). In addition, it led to significantly decreased brain-derived neurotrophic factor in hippocampus (17%) and total antioxidant capacity (27%), as compared to control group. Treadmill running, curcumin supplementation or both resulted in a significant decrease in hippocampus MDA (17, 20, 31%, respectively) and plasma MDA (60, 22, 71%) and also, significantly increased brain-derived neurotrophic factor (76, 45, 94%) and total antioxidant capacity (47.13, 47.11, 61%) levels, as compared to lead acetate group. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: These results provide a rationale for an inhibitory role of curcumin and regular exercise in the attenuation of lead-induced neurotoxicity.

Chronic exercise training versus acute endurance exercise in reducing neurotoxicity in rats exposed to lead acetate.

After intraperitoneal injection of 20 mg/kg lead acetate, rats received 8 weeks of treadmill exercise (15-22 m/min, 25-64 minutes) and/or treadmill exercise at 1.6 km/h until exhaustion. The markers related to neurotoxicity were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. 8 weeks of treadmill exercise significantly increased brain-derived neurotrophic factor level in the hippocampus (P = 0.04) and plasma level of total antioxidant capacity of rats exposed to lead acetate (P < 0.001), and significantly decreased plasma level of malondialdehyde (P < 0.001). Acute exercise only decreased the hippocampal malondialdehyde level (P = 0.09) and increased brain-derived neurotrophic factor level in the hippocampus (P = 0.66). Acute exercise also enhanced the total antioxidant capacity in rats exposed to lead acetate, insignificantly (P = 0.99). These findings suggest that chronic treadmill exercise can significantly decrease neurotoxicity and alleviate oxidative stress in rats exposed to lead acetate. However, acute endurance exercise was not associated with these beneficial effects.

Effects of intermittent aerobic training on passive avoidance test (shuttle box) and stress markers in the dorsal hippocampus of wistar rats exposed to administration of homocysteine.

OBJECTIVE: Elevated amino acid homocysteine (Hcy) levels and insufficient physical activity are the risk factors in Alzheimer disease (AD) development. The effect of intermittent aerobic training on memory retention test and Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances (TBARS) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels in the dorsal hippocampus of rats which were stimulated with Hcy is investigated. METHODS: In order to determine the dose at which using Shuttle Box Test recognizes degenerative changes and/or memory impairment, 40 rats were injected by different dosages of Hcy to the dorsal hippocampus. It was observed that the required Hcy dose is 0.6 M. Then 44 rats were divided into four groups including training and control groups at 4 weeks of aerobic exercise in training and control groups at 8 weeks. To determine the effect of homocysteine on the memory impairment, Shuttle Box Test was used on treadmill (5 sessions/week, 12-18 m/min and 10-58.5 min). RESULTS: Hcy administration caused memory impairment and significant increase in TBARS. Significant decrease in TBARS level was noted after 8 weeks of aerobic exercise, but not after just 4 weeks of exercise compared with control group. In addition, performing 8 weeks of aerobic training led to significantly increased superoxide dismutase (SOD) level and the time of avoidance learning test. CONCLUSION: Hyperhomocysteinemia caused learning and memory deficits probably by generating reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the present study showed that regular moderate intensity intermittent exercise may reverse this process and exercise is recommended as a strategy to improve symptoms of senile neurodegenerative disease . DECLARATION OF INTEREST: None.