Effect of physical training on oxidative stress in physical education students "girls" in Alexandria

Physical training seems to reduce exercise-induced oxidative stress and to increase the antioxidant defense system. However intense physical aerobic and anaerobic training can induce an increase of oxidative stress which can be implicated with overt raining. Was to study the effect of physical training on oxidative stress parameters in a sample of students of the second year of the faculty of physical education "girls" in Alexandria during the year 2004-2005, in order to demonstrate whether the load of training program implemented in their curriculum may or may not induce oxidative stress. A coherent prospective study was conducted on 21 apparently healthy adult females their age ranged from 18 to 19 years old with no history of chronic illness. The implemented training program consisted of about one and half hour of physical exercise per day, 6 days/week divided into aerobic and anaerobic sessions Blood samples were withdrawn at four different occasions. "the beginning of the first term, end of the first term, beginning of the second term, and finally at the end of the second term ". Plasma total antioxidant status [TAS], advanced oxidation protein products [AOPP], malondialdehyde [MDA] and serum iron were measured. Our results demonstrated that by the end of second term, the girls had about 30% significant increase in their TAS levels, 15% significant decrease in their AOPP levels and 29% significant decrease in their serum iron compared to their values at the beginning of the first term. However the MDA levels did not change. Significantly during the whole study period. Regular training induced an improvement of plasma antioxidant status accompanied by a decrease in the levels of the novel protein oxidation marker AOPP. However as iron plays a critical role in athletic performance and deficiencies are not uncommon, female athletes are advised to consume at least the recommended dietary allowance [RDA] of this micronutrient and to check regularly their iron status

Role of oxytocin in the stress response in male and female rats

In addition to its role in reproduction, oxytocin [OT] has central actions modulating behavioural and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis responses during stress. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of endogenous and exogenous oxytocin administered as an intranasal inhalation on adrenocorticotrophic hormone [ACTH] and corticosterone level in the serum of male and female rats after exposure to stress; to evidence whether intranasal inhalation of oxytocin is associated with increase in its level in the cerebrospinal fluid [CSF]; and finally to assess any possible relation between the level of oxytocin and the levels of sex steroids during stress. This study was carried out on 10 male and 10 female adult rats; which were exposed to the forced swimming stress test with and without prior intranasal oxytocin inhalation. Thereafter, their anxiety behaviour was assessed by the elevated plus maze test. Blood and CSF samples were withdrawn before exposure to stress as well as after stress with and without oxytocin inhalation and were used for estimation of oxytocin level in the CSF, serum level of ACTH, corticosterone, estradiol and testosterone by enzyme immunoassay. The present study revealed a significant increase of CSF oxytocin after exposure to forced swimming stress test in both sexes; female rats however, exhibited more increase in oxytocin level. Exposure to stress was also associated with significant increase in serum level of ACTH and corticosterone in both sexes, female rats moreover, had lower level of these hormones compared to male rats. Oxytocin treatment was associated with significant increase in oxytocin level in CSF as well as reduction in the serum level of ACTH and corticosterone. With oxytocin treatment, a clear anxiolytic effect in animals was found as shown by the observations from the elevated plus-maze. A Positive significant correlation was found between serum estradiol and CSF oxytocin level in female rats, whereas, no significant correlation was noticed between serum testosterone level and CSF oxytocin level in male rats after exposure to stress. In conclusion, intranasal OT inhalation was associated with a significant increase in its CSE level; such central oxytocin can modulate hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal [HPA] axis response in male and female rats by exerting inhibitory effect on ACTH and subsequently corticosterone secretion. Due to its anti-stress property, oxytocin can be used for psychotherapeutic intervention and treatment of numerous psychiatric illnesses. Although the central action of OT are generally inhibitory, our study suggested that circulating level of estrogen and not testosterone plays an important role modulating the effect of OT on HPA axis responsiveness to stress

Sex-specific p38 MAP kinase activation in myocardial ischemia reperfusion injury in dogs

Very little information exists concerning the influence of sex on the response of the myocardium itself to an acute insult such as ischemia-reperfusion [I/R]. It was suggested that differences in the activation of p38 may mediate the sex-related difference in myocardial signaling after I-R which may contribute to the lower incidence of cardiac complications in females after myocardial ischemia. To evaluate the effect of sex hormones on the activation of p38 MAP kinase in a canine model of ischemia reperfusion injury. This study was conducted on 42 adult dogs of both sexes, they were classified into three groups. The first group [group I] contained 14 male dogs, the second group [group II] included 14 cycling female dogs and the third one [group III] consisted of 14 female dogs which were ovariectomized 3 weeks prior to experiment. Each group was subdivided randomly into 2 equal subgroups, I/R group [n=7] and control group [n=7]. The myocardial I/R model included anesthesized open-chest dogs after 25 minutes occlusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery [LAD] and subsequent reperfusion. Myocardial p38 MAPK and TNF-alpha and serum estrogen as well as testosterone were measured. The present study revealed decreased levels of p38 and TNF- alpha levels in the hearts of female dogs compared to male dogs and ovariectomized females subjected to the same I/R injury, suggesting that sex differences may exist in the p38 MAPK signaling pathway and cytokine response. Our findings indicate that sex difference exists in the myocardial response to acute I/R, where females dogs showed some degree of myocardial protection than males and ovariectomized females. Endogenous estrogen may be partly responsible for this cardioprotective effect by lowering p38 MAPK activation and subsequent decrease in TNF-alpha production and this benificial effect is lost in ovariectomized females. In addition, the study confirmed the deleterious effects of testosterone on myocardium through activation ofp38 MAPK and the resulting increase in TNF- alpha production

possible role of visceral adiposity in development of pro-atherogenic lipid profile in normal overweight young Egyptian female adults [a possible involvement of adiponectin and leptin]

The metabolic abnormalities that often co-exist with overweight and obesity appear to be mediated largely by visceral fat accumulation. Visceral fat is very different from the subcutaneous fat, and may be responsible for pro-atherogenic lipid profile in apparently healthy people. to examine the influence of visceral fat and "not obesity" on the lipid profile. In addition, to test the relation between adipocytokines [leptin and adiponectin] and lipid profile in overweight young healthy Egyptian adult females. Forty healthy young overweight females participated in this prospective cohort study, their age ranged from 19-23 Y, and their body mass index [BMI] ranged from 25-30 Kg/rn2. All the participants were completely healthy with no history of thyroid dysfunction; diabetes; or cardiovascular, renal, or liver dysfunction. No participant had taken medication for at least 3 months before the study, and none were dieting or smoking. The anthropometric measurements were made be the same observer in the physiology laboratory, Alexandria University, they induced: height, weight, body mass index [BMI], waist, hip circumference and waist hip ratio [WHR]. Fasting venous blood was collected to measure adipocytokines [leptin and adiponectin] and lipid profile [total cholesterol [TC], total triglycerides [TG], high-density hpoprotein cholesterol HDL-C, low-density lip oprotein cholesterol [LDL-C] and the LDL-C/HDL-C ratio was calculated as the atherogenic index. Then the examined subjects were divided into two groups based on their Waist/hip ratio [WHR]. Group 1 [n 25 with WHR>0.8], and group2 [n=15 with WHR