Regular treadmill running during adolescence improves learning and memory in rats. During adolescence, the baseline level of stress is thought to be greater than during other periods of life. We investigated the effects of voluntary and involuntary exercise on the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels, and spatial learning, memory and anxiety in adolescent male and female rats. The voluntary exercise group was given free access to a running wheel for 6 weeks. The involuntary exercise group was forced to run on a treadmill for 30 min at 8 m/min 5 days/week for 6 weeks. Improved learning was demonstrated in both exercise groups compared to controls. Neuron density in the CA1 region of the hippocampus, dentate gyrus and prefrontal cortex were increased. Hippocampal VEGF and BDNF levels were increased in both exercise groups compared to controls. In females, anxiety and corticosterone levels were decreased; BDNF and VEGF levels were higher in the voluntary exercise group than in the involuntary exercise group. The adolescent hippocampus is affected favorably by regular exercise. Although no difference was found in anxiety levels as a result of involuntary exercise in males, females showed increased anxiety levels, and decreased VEGF and BDNF levels in the prefrontal cortex after involuntary exercise.

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Objective: Obesity has been suggested as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Increasing evidence shows that engagement of soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L) with its receptor plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. The aim of the present study was to test whether obesity is associated with low-grade systemic inflammation as measured by serum high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and sCD40L concentration.Methods: Serum hsCRP and sCD40L concentrations were measured in 148 nondiabetic people. The participants were divided into three groups depending upon their body mass index (BMI) levels: Group 1 (normal weight), BMI<25 kg/m 2 ; Group 2 (overweight), BMI 25 kg/m 2 to 29.9 kg/m 2 ; and Group 3 (obese), BMI≥30 kg/m 2 .Results: Obese people had more elevated hsCRP levels than both their normal weight and overweight counterparts (P=0.000 and P=0.000, respectively). Similarly, serum concentrations of sCD40L were significantly higher, statistically, in obese subjects compared with normal weight subjects (P=0.003). In addition, obese subjects had higher values of sCD40L than overweight subjects, but the difference did not reach statistical significance (P=0.063). The levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol were significantly lower in obese subjects compared to normal weight subjects (P=0.048). The analysis of platelet count disclosed a statistically significant difference between obese subjects and normal weight subjects (P=0.028). The levels of BMI were positively correlated with the serum levels of hsCRP and sCD40L in all subjects (r=0.514, P=0.000 and r=0.283, P=0.000, respectively). Levels of hsCRP were positively correlated with waist circumference, fasting glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, leukocytes, platelets, systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Similarly, soluble CD40L levels were positively correlated with waist circumference, fasting glucose and leukocytes. Conclusion:Obese patients showed a significant increase of hsCRP and sCD40L levels compared with normal weight subjects, which might contribute to the known proinflammatory milieu found in these patients.

Background The aim of this study is to evaluate and compare the analytical performance characteristics of the two creatinine methods based on the Jaffe and enzymatic methods. Methods Two original creatinine methods, Jaffe and enzymatic, were evaluated on Architect c16000 automated analyzer via limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ), linearity, intra‐assay and inter‐assay precision, and comparability in serum and urine samples. The method comparison and bias estimation using patient samples according to CLSI guideline were performed on 230 serum and 141 urine samples by analyzing on the same auto‐analyzer. Results The LODs were determined as 0.1 mg/dL for both serum methods and as 0.25 and 0.07 mg/dL for the Jaffe and the enzymatic urine method respectively. The LOQs were similar with 0.05 mg/dL value for both serum methods, and enzymatic urine method had a lower LOQ than Jaffe urine method, values at 0.5 and 2 mg/dL respectively. Both methods were linear up to 65 mg/dL for serum and 260 mg/dL for urine. The intra‐assay and inter‐assay precision data were under desirable levels in both methods. The higher correlations were determined between two methods in serum and urine (r=.9994, r=.9998 respectively). On the other hand, Jaffe method gave the higher creatinine results than enzymatic method, especially at the low concentrations in both serum and urine. Conclusions Both Jaffe and enzymatic methods were found to meet the analytical performance requirements in routine use. However, enzymatic method was found to have better performance in low creatinine levels.