Military field training exercise with prolonged physical activity and sleep restriction causes hormonal imbalance in firefighter cadets.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the impact of the "Search and rescue" field military training exercise (SR_FTX) on hormonal modulation and identify their possible correlation with physical and cognitive performance. METHODS: An observational (before and after) study was carried out, with male firefighters cadets (n = 42; age = 23[22;27] years) undergoing a nine-day military exercise (SR_FTX). The Countermovement jump (physical performance), the Stroop test (cognitive alertness), and blood tests for testosterone, cortisol, GH, and IGF-1 were applied. Wilcoxon for paired samples and Spearman's correlation tests were used. RESULTS: Testosterone (751.10 [559.10;882.8] vs. 108.40 [80.12;156.40] ng/dL) and IGF-1 (217.5 [180;239.30] vs. 105 [93;129] ng/mL) significantly decreased while GH (0.10 [0.06;0.18] vs. 1.10 [0.58;2.28] ng/mL) and cortisol (9.60 [8.20;11.55] vs. 15.55 [12.28;18.98] ug/dL) significantly increased. Physical performance (31.2 [30.04;35.4] vs. 21.49 [19,02;23,59] cm) and cognitive alertness were significantly worse after SR_FTX (Congruent task: 1,78 (0183) vs. 1,56 (0185) response/s and incongruous task: 1,23 (0191) vs. 1,02 (0207) response/s). The physical performance showed a strong correlation with testosterone (rho = 0.694) and regular correlations with both IGF-1 (rho = 0.598) and cortisol (rho = - 0.580). The Stroop test presented weak correlations with GH (rho = - 0.350) and cortisol (rho = - 0.361). CONCLUSION: SR_FTX negatively impacted hormonal modulation, physical and cognitive performance. These findings could help commanders decide to replace the employed firefighters in a real mission more frequently. Also, if the real scenario allows, they could think about providing better work conditions, such as improving caloric intake and rest periods, to preserve the military performance and health.

Presence of apolipoprotein E epsilon4 allele in cerebral palsy.

The apolipoprotein E gene, which is located on chromosome 19, has three alleles (epsilon2, epsilon3, and epsilon4). Several recent publications associate the presence of the apolipoprotein E epsilon4 allele with the occurrence of neurologic diseases, and consider it a risk factor for the development of central nervous system affections. A group of 40 patients with cerebral palsy was studied and compared to a control group of 40 subjects, and higher occurrence of the allele epsilon4 in the group of subjects with cerebral palsy was observed. A significantly higher risk of developing cerebral palsy was demonstrated among those subjects with the apolipoprotein E epsilon4 allele.

Plasty of tendon with dura mater. Experimental study.

The authors present an experimental study of 30 rats, in which human dura mater preserved in glycerin was used to repair gaps in the Achilles tendon. The animals were killed 8 weeks after the surgery and evaluated by gross and microscopic examination. The results showed that the dura mater did not cause foreign-body reactions or adhesions and was surrounded by concentric layers of fibroblasts and collagen fibers, suggesting that it could be employed as a substitute for damaged tendons.