Structural analysis of rat patellar tendon in response resistance and endurance training.

Little is known about tendon adaptations induced by mechanical loading. Our goal was to evaluate the effects of two different exercise training protocols on adult rat patellar tendon. Ninety-six male Wistar rats were divided into a sedentary group (control), a resistance-trained group and an endurance-trained group. The examinations were performed after 15, 30 and 45 days of training and after 2 weeks of rest since training was stopped. The content of collagen fibers and the cell nuclei number were quantified on tendon cross sections. In order to assess the training effectiveness, we evaluated the heart/body weight ratio, which was higher in 45 day-trained rats than their controls (P<0.01), showing the presence of cardiac hypertrophy. An increase in the content of collagen fibers was observed in the 45 day-trained groups and after 2 weeks of rest in the endurance group. Moreover, both trained groups showed a decrease in cell nuclei number after 30 and 45 days of training and 2 weeks of rest (P<0.05). Endurance and resistance training induces a tendon tissue remodeling that depends on the length and intensity of workload rather than the training type. Further studies are necessary to evaluate whether these structural modifications are associated with an increase in the mechanical strength of tendon

Is arginine test a reliable tool for differential diagnosis of multiple system atrophy?

Arginine test for differential diagnosis of multiple system atrophy

Growth hormone stimulation tests in the differential diagnosis of Parkinson'sdisease

Idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder whose differential diagnosis from other forms of atypical parkinsonism, for instance multiple system atrophy (MSA) or progressive supranuclear palsy, may be difficult, especially in the early stages. Growth hormone stimulation tests have been recently reported to be useful in the differential diagnosis between IPD and MSA. Both clonidine, an alpha(2)-adrenoceptor agonist, and arginine, an amino acid activating the cholinergic system, have been used to assess growth hormone response in patients with IPD and MSA. This review summarizes the results of several studies and discusses the validity of these tests in the differential diagnosis of parkinsonisms

Extracellular Vesicles: Delivery Vehicles of Myokines

Movement and regular physical activity are two important factors that help the human body prevent, reduce and treat different chronic diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart diseases, hypertension, sarcopenia, cachexia and cancer. During exercise, several tissues release molecules into the blood stream, and are able to mediate beneficial effects throughout the whole body. In particular, contracting skeletal muscle cells have the capacity to communicate with other organs through the release of humoral factors that play an important role in the mechanisms of adaptation to physical exercise. These muscle-derived factors, today recognized as myokines, act as endocrine and paracrine hormones. Moreover, exercise may stimulate the release of small membranous vesicles into circulation, whose composition is influenced by the same exercise. Combining the two hypotheses, these molecules related to exercise, named exer-kines, might be secreted from muscle cells inside small vesicles (nanovesicles). These could act as messengers in tissue cross talk during physical exercise. Thanks to their ability to deliver useful molecules (such as proteins and miRNA) in both physiological and pathological conditions, extracellular vesicles can be thought of as promising candidates for potential therapeutic and diagnostic applications for several diseases

Reduction of drive for thinness and body dissatisfaction in people with self-reported dysregulated eating behaviors after intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

Aim: This study aimed to explore the effect of intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) of the right and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in people with self-reported dysregulated eating behaviors but without a diagnosis of eating disorders (EDs). Methods: Participants were randomly divided into two equivalent groups according to the side (right or left) of the hemisphere to be stimulated and they were tested before and after a single iTBS session. Outcome measurements were scores on self-report questionnaires assessing psychological dimensions related to eating behaviors (EDI-3), anxiety (STAI-Y), and tonic electrodermal activity. Results: The iTBS interfered with both psychological and neurophysiological measures. Significant variations of physiological arousal after iTBS of both the right and left DLPFC were witnessed by increased mean amplitude of non-specific skin conductance responses. With regard to the psychological measures, the iTBS on the left DLPFC significantly reduced the scores of the EDI-3 subscales drive for thinness and body dissatisfaction. Interestingly, these two scales are two of the three EDI-3 clinic scales (drive for thinness, body dissatisfaction, and bulimia) used as specific markers to assess the onset and/or maintenance of eating disorders. Conclusion: Our results show that the left DLPFC iTBS has an impact on the psychological dimensions that are risk factors for the onset of eating disorders, suggesting that an altered hemispheric asymmetry similar to that encountered in clinical populations is present in normal subjects even in the absence of clinical symptoms

First results on the phenotypic analysis of wild and cultivated species of Pyrus in Sicily

Phenotypic analysis of Pyrus in Sicily using a set of 19 characters on 71 accessions belonging to 7 species is here reported. Results show a high level of morphological variation in this genus. Cluster analysis of the morphological characters allows to identify two groups: the first closely related to wild pears and the latter related to P. communis s. l. and P. sicanorum. It is likely to think that many Ethno-Varieties, usually attributed to P. communis, on the contrary are attributable to wild Sicilian pears and belong to indigenous germplasm