No abstract

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is known to be associated with an increased risk of dementia, specifically Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia. Intermittent fasting (IF) has been proposed to produce neuroprotective effects through the activation of several signaling pathways. In this study, we investigated the effect of IF on rat behavior in type 2 diabetic rats. Forty male Wistar Kyoto rats were divided into four groups (n = 10 for each): the ad libitum (Ad) group, the intermittent fasting group (IF), the streptozotocin-induced diabetic 2 group (T2DM) fed a high-fat diet for 4 weeks followed by a single intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of streptozotocin (STZ) 25 mg.kg−1, and the diabetic group with intermittent fasting (T2DM+IF). We evaluated the impact of 3 months of IF (16 h of food deprivation daily) on the levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), neurotrophin 3 (NT3), serotonin, dopamine, and glutamate in the hippocampus, and rat behavior was assessed by the forced swim test and elevated plus maze. IF for 12 weeks significantly increased (p < 0.05) the levels of NT3 and BDNF in both control and T2DM rats. Additionally, it increased serotonin, dopamine, and glutamic acid in diabetic rats. Moreover, IF modulated glucose homeostasis parameters, with a significant decrease (p < 0.05) in insulin resistance and downregulation of serum corticosterone level. Interestingly, T2DM rats showed a significant increase in anxiety and depression behaviors, which were ameliorated by IF. These findings suggest that IF could produce a potentially protective effect by increasing the levels of BDNF and NT3 in both control and T2DM rats. IF could be considered as an additional therapy for depression, anxiety, and neurodegenerative diseases.

The study was conducted to estimate the relation between lead exposure and the risk of various symptoms of osteoporosis in male and female battery manufacturing workers by using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. A total of 18 female and 24 male workers were chosen with the same age range, duty hours per day, work history and weight. A total of 15 healthy controls were chosen with no previous history of bone illness and normal blood lead concentration. Blood lead concentration was measured in all workers and controls. Non-lead elevated subjects were excluded. Bone mineral density was measured by X-ray-based dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scan machine. Spine, femur neck and radius sites were studied. Results showed that both male and female workers recorded significant elevated levels of lead concentration accompanied by osteoporosis when compared with control. Interestingly, the data revealed that fracture risk in female was significantly higher than male workers. It was concluded that lead poisoning may act as osteoporosis risk factor or co-factor in female workers by activating the conversion of osteopenia to osteoporosis.

It was concluded that both antioxidants can be used as radio-protective agents in cases of ionizing radiation exposure.