Background and Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate effects of eight weeks of aquatic exercise and resistance training on plasma neurotrophin-4 (NT-4) levels and NT-4 expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of women with multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods: Thirty women with MS were randomly assigned to a resistance-training group, an aquatic exercise group and a control group. After separating plasma and PBMCs from blood samples, level of plasma NT-4 and NT-4 expression was measured after eight weeks of exercise via ELISA and Real-time PCR, respectively. Results: The level of plasma NT-4 and NT-4 expression increased significantly following eight weeks of aquatic training and resistance training. Conclusion: Based on the results of the present study, both resistance training and aquatic exercise can increase the level of plasma NT-4 and NT-4 expression in female MS patients. It can be concluded that such trainings could have protective and positive effects on the nervous system of MS patients.

EAP/ESP plays an important role in countries where English is used mainly for academic purposes. However, EAP/ESP programs have been developed without conducting a systematic needs analysis from both the students' and instructors' perspective. The purpose of the present study is to shed more light on the perception that Iranian undergraduate students and the faculty of Physical Education have of the English language needs of the students and the shortcomings of the commonly used textbook in EAP/ESP courses at universities. A total number of 112 students of P.E (47 male and 65 female) participated in the needs analysis procedure of the present study. They ranged from 21 to 27 years of age and were all undergraduates studying at the Physical Education Faculty, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. Four P.E. faculty members, all holding Ph.D. were also interviewed. Results of the present study indicate that English is perceived as important by Iranian P. E. students and the faculty, and show discrepancy between the perceptions of the learners and instructors. The study has implications for curriculum design and instructional delivery of ESP/EAP courses for undergraduate P.E. students.

Background. Irisin is the result of the proteolysis of fibronectin type III domain-containing protein 5, the levels of which are determined by physical activity. Objective(s). This study aims to identify changes in FNDC5 gene expression and the heart muscle irisin levels in male rats following 8 weeks resistance and endurance trainings. Methods. Fifteen male rats (10-12 weeks old and 331.8±63.09 g in weight) were randomly assigned to three groups: control, resistance and endurance training groups (5 in each group). The endurance group performed activities on a treadmill for 8 weeks. The resistance group performed activities for 8 weeks on a one-meter-long ladder with a slope of 85○. The control group did not undergo any particular training. Sampling was carried out 72 h after the end of the training. The heart tissue were excised, cleaned and immediately frozen in liquid nitrogen, and stored at -70○C. FNDC5 gene expression and the heart muscle irisin levels were measured using Real-Time PCR and ELISA, respectively. Results. Kruskal-Wallis test showed a significant increase in the heart muscle FNDC5 expression in both training groups (P=0.004). One-way ANOVA showed a significant difference in heart muscle irisin levels among the groups (p=0.004). Conclusion. It can be concluded that both resistance and endurance training can significantly increase FNDC5 gene expression and the heart muscle irisin levels, suggesting that physical activity can prevent and cure cardiovascular diseases.

Background and Objectives: We studied effects of eight weeks of resistance training and IGF-1 injection on serum level of IGF-1, IGFBP-3 and IGF-1/IGFBP-3 ratio in Wistar rats.Methods: We randomly divided 28 male Wistar rats into four groups of salineinjected control (C), resistance training+saline injection (RS), resistance training+IGF-1 injection (RI) and IGF-1 injection (II). Resistance training protocol consisted of climbing a ladder (three days/week with 5 reps/3 sets) while carrying a weight suspended from the tail for eight weeks. IGF-1 and saline (1.5 µg/kg/day) were injected before and after exercise sessions. Serum IGF-1, IGFBP-3 and IGF-1/IGFBP-3 ratio and morphology of colorectal tissue were evaluated.Results: Serum IGF-1 level and IGF-1/IGFBP-3 ratio decreased in the RS group compared to the other groups (P< 0.05). Rats in the RS group had higher IGFBP-3 level than those in the II and RI groups (P< 0.05). IGF-1 injection had no effect on morphology of colorectal tissue. Conclusion:The resistance training reduces IGF-1 and increases IGFBP-3 levels, which might represent a link between resistance training and lower risk of colorectal cancer.

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Background. Cardiac rehabilitation program is aimed at reducing secondary risk factors and improving function in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting run which ultimately may delay or reduce mortality in patients. A major component of cardiac rehabilitation program is exercise. Objective(s). This study is aimed at evaluating the effect of aquatic and dryland training on Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor-ɑ (PPAR-α) gene expression in middle-aged women's peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNCs) after coronary artery bypass grafting. Methods. Thirty middle-aged women with cardiovascular disease were categorized into three groups comprising control (CON), aquatic resistance training (ART) and dryland resistance training (DRT). The dryland training program lasted for eight weeks of resistance training (3 sessions per week/ 60 minutes per session) and included two to three sets of 12-15 repetitions with 60% of 1RM. The aquatic resistance training lasted for eight weeks (3 sessions per week/ 60 minutes per session), with 60 to 80% of 1RM for each exercise primarily. Fasting blood samples were taken from all participants 48 hours both before the beginning of the training program and after the last training session. PPARα relative gene expression was identified by Real-Time PCR method. Results. It is showed a significant increase in the relative PPARɑ gene expression in both aquatic and dryland resistance training groups (F= 15.573, P= 0.001). It is found a significant difference in aquatic and dryland resistance training groups as regards PPARɑ gene expression (P= 0.001, t= -6.954; P= 0.001, t= -5.871; respectively). Conclusion. The results revealed that both of them on land and water training, increase PPARɑ gene expression in middle-aged women after coronary artery bypass and a possible reverse cholesterol transport process can be improved, so it is recommended that this type of training program, cardiac rehabilitation should be employed.

Aims Coronary heart disease is one of the leading causes of mortality in modern societies. The disease is associated with the lack of physical activity and the expression of some genes involved in blood cholesterol transportation. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-binding cassette transporters G5/G8) ABCG5 and ABCG8) is the expression of adenosine triphosphate-dependent box protein genes 5 and 8, a member of the ABC transporter family, playing a crucial role in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and lipoproteins metabolism. The action of ABCG5/8 is to remove cholesterol and decrease its toxicity. The increased activity of these two factors may prevent atherosclerosis. This study aims to investigate the effect of eight weeks of aerobic resistance training on ABCG5 and ABCG8 gene expression in coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) patients. Methods & Materials The research population included 30 men voluntarily selected and randomly divided into an experimental (n=15) and control (n=15) group. The experimental group performed aerobic resistance training for eight weeks (3 sessions per week) and the control group had no exercise. The blood samples were taken 48 hours before the beginning of the first training session and 48 hours after the last training session while all subjects were fasting. Semi-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to measure the expression of ABCG5 and ABCG8 genes. To analyze the data, independent and paired t tests were used at the significant level of 0.05 in SPSS software, version 21. Findings The present study results showed that the aerobic resistance training group experienced a significant increase in the messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) expression of ABCG5 and ABCG8 genes as a result of eight weeks of aerobic resistance training compared to the control group. Conclusion Based on the findings of the present study, it is possible to suggest that aerobic resistance training increases the expression of ABCG5 and ABCG8 genes, and improves the cholesterol transportation process, which may improve recovery of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) patients and prevent cardiovascular diseases.

Background and Aim: Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) is one of the leading causes of death and mortality in todaychr('39')s societies. Physical activity increases some of the influential factors for this disease. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of 8 weeks of aerobic and resistance training on endostatin in patients with Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG). Methods & Materials: The study participants were 24 male patients who were randomly divided into the experimental (n=12) and control (n=12) groups with Mean±SD age of 55.37±6.90 years, weight 75.45±5.87 kg, height 173.27±3.36 cm and body mass index of 25.11±1.55 kg/m2. The experimental group performed 8 weeks of aerobic and resistance training (3 sessions per week and 1.5 hours per session) based on the measurements, while the control group did not exercise during this period. To measure endostatin concentrations, blood samples were taken 48 hours before and 48 hours after the last training session while all subjects were fasting. Data were analyzed using the Shapiro-Wilk test to normalize the data and Student t-test in independent and correlated groups at the significant level of 0.05. Ethical Considerations: This article was ethically approved by Azad University of Neyshabur (Ethics Code IR.IAU.NEYSHABUR.REC.1398.018) and with the Clinical Trial Code IRCT20191228045916N1 in the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials. Results: The present study showed that the aerobic and resistance training group significantly decreased endostatin concentrations (P=0.001) (t=1.672) compared with the control group. Conclusion: Based on the findings, aerobic and resistance training decreases endostatin concentrations, known as an anti-angiogenic factor.