Introduction: Excessive production of nitric oxide (NO) via inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) is associated in renal ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI).Objectives: This study was designed to investigate the role of S-methylisothiourea (SMT) as selective inhibitor iNOS in renal IRI.Materials and Methods: Male Wistar rats were subjected to 45 minutes of bilateral renal ischemia by occlusion of renal vessels of both kidney followed by 24 hours of reperfusion. Prior to renal IRI, the rats received either vehicle (saline, group 2) or SMT (50 mg/kg, group 3), and were compared with the sham-operated animals (group 1). At the end of reperfusion period, the rats were sacrificed for kidney tissue pathology investigation.Results: Serum creatinine (Cr), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), nitrite levels, and kidney weight significantly increased in groups 2 and 3 (P<0.05). Kidney tissue damage scores in groups 2 and 3 were also higher than that in the sham-operated group (P<0.05).Conclusion: SMT not only prevent the kidney during IRI, but also promotes kidney function disturbance and severity of renal injury.

Background: Lumbopelvic stability training (LPST) andmassage therapy are common therapies used for pain reduction and management of low back pain. However, the effects of LPST and sports massage therapy (SMT) for management of chronic non-specific low back pain (CLBP) among elite weightlifters have never been studied before. Objectives: The current study investigates the therapeutic effects of LPST and SMT on pain intensity (PI), pain pressure threshold (PPT) and tissue blood flow (TBF) among elite weightlifters with CLBP. Methods: A total of 16 female athletes training for the international and Olympic weightlifting competitions participated in a randomized balanced cross-over study. The athletes were randomized into three sessions of LPST and SMT with a time interval of 24 hours within sessions and a wash out period of 4 weeks between the sessions. The PI, PPT and TBF were measured before and after each session repeatedly in both groups of interventions. The changes in the PI, PPT and TBF within and between the groups were analysed using repeated measures analysis of variance [ANOVA]. Results: The results demonstrated a reduction of PI (P = 0. 01), increase in PPT (P = 0. 01) and improvement of TBF (P = 0. 01) among the participants in both groups of interventions. The SMT group showed a trend of greater therapeutic benefits when compared to LPST group especially in PI (P = 0. 001). Conclusions: The findings suggest positive evidence on the therapeutic effects of LPST and SMT for management of CLBP among elite weightlifters with improvement in PI, PPT and TBF. Coaches, clinicians, and athletes may consider LPST and SMT as useful interventions for management of CLBP among elite weightlifters.

Background: Until now, a variety of techniques have been introduced to address the adverse effects of NS-CLBP, including spinal manipulation technique (SMT) and muscle energy technique (MET). However, most of these techniques have focused on pain assessment and disability. In other words, the intermuscular synchronization between the co-contracting muscles was not considered, and hence, the effectiveness of these techniques on the corticospinal tract function was not studied. Objectives: This study aimed to compare the effects of SMT and MET on corticospinal tract function during four phases of standing, flexion, relaxation, and extension in flexion-extension task (F-ET) in NS-CLBP using pair-wise coherence of Beta-band intermuscular coherence (Bb-IMC). Methods: Twenty volunteer healthy male subjects and twenty-four male subjects with NS-CLBP (20-45 years of age) participated in this work. The patients had continuous or recurrent symptoms for three months or more without any referral pain to the lower extremities. The patients were randomly assigned to two equal intervention groups (SMT and MET), and the techniques were applied as described by Greenman. Surface electromyography (sEMGs) from lumbopelvic muscles was recorded for all participants (i. e., healthy group and the patient groups), while they performed three trials of F-ET, and the pair-wise coherence for all muscles was calculated using Bb-IMC analysis. Besides, in the patient's groups, sEMGs from the muscles were recorded before and after the interventional techniques (i. e., SMT and MET), while they performed three trials of F-ET, and the pair-wise coherence was calculated. Multivariate analysis of variance test was used to compare the healthy subjects and patient groups before the interventions in A and B muscle cross at different phases of F-ET task. Furthermore, in the NS-CLBP patients, comparisons were made before and after the interventions in each group (i. e., SMT and MET groups) as well as between the two groups in A and B muscle cross at different phases of the F-ET task. Results: In the standing phase of F-ET, there were no significant differences in the SMT and MET group before and after the intervention in PWC of A muscle cross and B muscle cross (P < 0. 05). Considering the flexion phase, there were significant differences in the SMT group in all pair muscles as PWC (M1-M4), PWE (M1-M6), PWC (M4-M6) (P < 0. 05), whereas there was one significantly in PWC (M4-M6) in the MET group (P < 0. 05). In the relaxation phase, the SMT had significantly in PWC (M2-M5), whereas there was one significantly in PWC (M4-M6) in MET group (P < 0. 05). In the extension phase, although the SMT was not significant (P < 0. 05) in the MET intervention group, there were significant differences in the PWC (M2-M3) and PWC muscles (M2-M5). Conclusions: This study provided some pieces of evidence about the effects of one of the common manual therapy techniques on the primary motor cortex and corticospinal drive in the NS-CLBP patients. The results showed that, by increasing the pair-wise coherence in all phases of FE-T, SMT intervention was more effective than MET intervention. Therefore, the pair-wise coherence of Bb-IMC can be considered an approach for clinicians when designing the rehabilitation protocol to ensure optimal treatment.

Background & Objectives: Diabetes, as one of the most widespread chronic diseases, is accompanied by high risks of biopsychological symptoms, reduced quality of life, early disability, and death besides imposing a high economic burden on the individual and society. Research indicated that some psychotherapies effectively control and cope with this illness. However, few studies have addressed Psychological Insulin Resistance (PIR), i. e., more prevalent among women, and its nonuse can make the patient suffer from numerous complications. Studies suggested that self–, efficacy, resilience, and hopefulness associated with people with diabetes are severely reduced due to chronic disease. Moreover, psychological assets, which include the components of self–, efficacy, resilience, optimism, and hope, impact coping with stress, overcoming psychosocial and health–, related adversity, and lifestyle modification in patients with diabetes. The present study aimed to compare the effects of the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Self–, Management Training (SMT) on Psychological Capitals (PCs) in women with type 2 diabetes and Psychological Insulin Resistance. Methods: This was a quasi–, experimental study with a pretest–, posttest–, follow–, up and a control group design. The statistical population consisted of all type 2 diabetes women referring to Gilan Diabetes Society in 2020. 48 individuals were voluntarily selected by the convenience sampling method concerning the inclusion criteria. After obtaining their informed consent, they were randomly assigned into 3 groups and administered the pretest. Luthans' Psychological Capital Scale was the instrument employed in this research. The questionnaire's validity was verified by explanatory factor analysis. Using Cronbach's alpha coefficient, the total reliability score of the PC item equaled 0. 89. A study conducted in Iran found that Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the overall score of the PC item was 0. 89. Moreover, the item–, total correlations indicated excellent validity. Besides, the researchers applied Hayes and Strosahl's ACT package in eight 90–, minute sessions to conduct the interventions. The SMT for chronic illnesses intervention of Schreurs et al. was also performed in six 90–, minute sessions. After administering the posttest and follow–,up stages, the research data were analyzed using repeated–, measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Bonferroni post hoc test in the SPSS. Results: The group–, by–, time interaction effect in the ANOVA was significant for the overall score of the PC, hope, resilience, self–, efficacy, and optimism (p<0. 001). The control and experimental groups substantially differed in pretest, posttest, and follow–, up steps. There was no difference in the overall score of the PC and its subscales in the pretest stage between the SMT and control groups (p>0. 05),therefore, the study groups were similar. In the posttest step, a significant difference was found between the control and SMT groups. Thus, the SMT group outperformed the control group respecting improving PC and its subscales in the study subjects (p<0. 001). There was no difference in the overall score of the PC and its subscales in the pretest stage between the ACT and SMT groups (p>0. 05),therefore, these groups were similar. A significant difference was found between the ACT and SMT groups in the posttest. Thus, the Act group outperformed the SMT group concerning improving PC and its subscales in the study participants (p<0. 001). Finally, all changes remained stable at the follow–, up design in the experimental groups (p<0. 001). Conclusion: The obtained results revealed that the PC scores in both experimental groups were higher than the control group, and the ACT group outperformed the SMT group. The changes observed in the experimental group were also stable in the follow–, up phase to some extent. The collected results can solve the problems associated with patients with diabetes in hospital and private counseling centers.