Primary dysmenorrhea (PDM) is one of the common complaints in women. This study aimed to assess the effects of turmeric and mefenamic acid and a combination compared with placebo on PDM. This clinical trial was conducted on dormitory students with PDM. Subjects completed the visual analog scale (VAS) before randomization. One hundred twenty-eight patients, randomly assigned to one of following groups: Turmeric group (n = 32), mefenamic acid group (n = 32), turmeric and mefenamic acid group (n = 32), and placebo group (n = 32). Turmeric and mefenamic acid were administrated in 500 mg and 250 mg, respectively. Pain severity was assessed in the baseline and the end line by VAS. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software. The combination of turmeric and mefenamic acid, dramatically, alleviated pain in comparison to other groups. Our results illustrated that combination of turmeric and mefenamic acid would be better in pain alleviation in PDM.

Muscle denervation is one of the most critical pathological factors involved in muscle atrophy as a result of ageing. This study aims to investigate the chronic effect of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on cross-sectional areas and muscle denervation genes, interpreted in the plantaris muscle atrophy of aged rats. Twenty-eight aged and young rats were divided into four different groups, including exercise and control. The training protocol included six weeks of HIIT. Animals were sacrificed 48 hours after the last training session, and the plantaris muscle was removed. To measure Gadd45a mRNA and NCAM1mRNA, we used a real-time PCR technique. The cross-sectional area was measured with photomyography using an H&E technique. The results showed that ageing significantly decreased NCAM1 mRNA in the aged control group (p=0.0001) and exercise leads to a significant increase (interaction effect) of it (p=0.003). Gadd45a mRNA was significantly increased due to ageing (p=0.009), and exercise resulted in a significant decrease in that in the aged exercise group (p=0.04). The cross-sectional area in the aged control group was significantly smaller than in the young control group (p=0.046). In contrast to young groups, exercise could increase the cross-sectional area in the aged exercise group compared with the aged control group, but it was not significant (p=0.069). It seems that HIIT could improve ageing-induced muscular atrophy, although denervation-involved gene modification leads to an increase in the muscular cross-sectional area; therefore, it improves muscular atrophy due to ageing. KEY WORDS high-intensity interval training, muscular atrophy, muscle denervation, ageing, gadd45a protein, ncam1 protein ORIGINAL SCIENTIFIC PAPER

Primary dysmenorrhea is a common gynecologic disorder and is one of the main causes for referral to the gynecology clinic. This study aimed to determine the effects of alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) and mefenamic acid and a combination compared with placebo on the girls with primary dysmenorrhea. This double-blind, placebocontrolled clinical trial done on population consisted of female students living in dormitories of Qazvin University of Medical Sciences who had moderate to severe dysmenorrhea using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) questionnaire. Participants were randomly divided into four groups (n = 100): ALA, mefenamic acid, ALA + mefenamic acid and placebo groups. ALA and mefenamic acid were administrated in 600 mg and 250 mg, respectively. The severity of the pain was measured in the beginning and the end of the study. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). Our final results suggested that, although mefenamic acid significantly decreased the menstrual pain, ALA supplementation, 600 mg, would be more efficient than mefenamic acid in 250 mg. Also, the combination of ALA and mefenamic acid significantly has been far. Considering the ALA supplementation effect on pain relief in patients with primary dysmenorrhea, this antioxidant can be recommended for the healing of symptoms of these patients.