Effect of oral contraceptives and some psychological factors on the menstrual experience

This study attempts to clarify the etiology of menstrual distress by using objective measures of menstration, enlightened statistical treatment and standardized measures of psychological factors. In addition to observing the traditionally associated psychological factors, measures of health locus of control, preventive health behavior and menstrual socialization (e,g., age at menarche) are included in order to assess the relevance of attitudes towards health. 57 women (mean age=23.5 years), 1/2 of whom (29) used an oral contraceptive, completed Moos' menstrual distress questionnaire at each of the 3 menstrual phases. In addition they kept menstrual diary cards for 50 days, recording days on which menstrual blood loss occurred. During an intermenstrual phase, they completed a general information questionnaire with questions on menstrual socialization and demographic variables; Eysenck's personality inventory; the multidimensional health locus of control scale; the Bem sex role inventory; and a measure of preventive health behavior. Analyses investigating the effects of pill use and psychological factors on the incidence and intensity of menstrual distress found few significant associations between these measures, especially when symptom changes over the menstrual cycle were the dependent variables. The results generally support the notion that menstruation is a negative event for most women (2/3 of the sample). Neuroticism was found to correlate with all the premenstrual MDQ scores except the positive aspect of increased arousal, with negative affect at both menstrual and intermenstrual phases, with menstrual pain and with intermenstrual concentration. The regression analyses indicate that changes in symptoms of menstrual distress over the menstrual cycle are not well predicted by the measures investigated in this study. Of the few significant associations noted, most are explicable in common sense terms. The more objective approach adopted in this study gives little support for a psychological etiology of distres. However, it also queries the appropriateness of a physiological explanation because of the limited differences found between pill users and nonusers. The inability of locus of control scores, menstrual socialization measures and a preventive health behavior measure to contribute to the definition of a woman at risk, suggests that distress is not related to an individual's general health concepts nor perceived control. 1 aspect not investigated in this study and a topic for future research is the role of a woman's expectations on her experience.     

Influence of gender, menstrual phase, and oral contraceptive use on immunological changes in response to prolonged cycling.

This study determined the influence of gender, menstrual phase (MP), and oral contraceptive (OC) use on immunological changes in response to endurance exercise. Twelve women and 11 men similar in age, aerobic power, and activity level cycled for 90 min at 65% maximal aerobic power. Women were OC users (n = 6) or nonusers (NOC) and cycled during the follicular (Fol) and the luteal (Lut) phases. Venous blood was collected before and after exercise to determine leukocyte counts, IL-6 concentrations, and cortisol. Higher resting levels of neutrophils (approximately 1.5-fold) and cortisol (approximately 2.5-fold) were found in OC vs. NOC and men. Exercise-induced immune cell count and IL-6 changes were similar between men and NOC, except for an approximately 38% greater lymphocyte response in NOC vs. men (P = 0.07). Neutrophil, monocyte, and lymphocyte responses to exercise during Lut in OC were greater than during Fol and also greater than the responses in men (P < or = 0.003). Changes in immune cell counts were consistently greater during Lut in OC vs. NOC, regardless of MP, but only neutrophil responses reached statistical significance (P = 0.01). The exercise-induced change in IL-6 was approximately 80% greater in NOC vs. OC during Fol (P = 0.06), but it was similar between these groups during Lut. Cortisol changes with exercise were not different between groups or MP. These results highlight the necessity to control for gender, and in particular OC use, when designing studies evaluating exercise and immunology.     

Influence of selenium on innate immune response in kids

The effect is described of selenium supplemented in an inorganic and organic form on the innate immune response of goats. Though the phagocytic activity (as a marker of the immune function) was found to be lower in organic-Se-treated group than in control (54.5 ± 4.32 vs. 60.2 ± 9.15 %), it did not generally exhibit any significant differences; similarly, no differences were found in the phagocytic index. The production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was determined using the luminol-enhanced chemiluminescence (CL) (estimated as peak CL, integral CL and a peak time after addition of calcium ionophore A23187, opsonised zymosan (OZP) and phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate as effectors. A significant ROS increase reflected in integral CL and a peak time was found in the inorganic-Se-treated group when OZP was used as activator; other parameters did not exhibit significant changes. The supplementation of Se in inorganic form can thus be seen to influence positively the innate immune system of kids.