Publications by authors named "Maha Sellami"

Objective: This study aims to explore the effects of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on plasma volume (PV) variations in obese women, with a focus on understanding how menopausal status and age influence these changes.

Methods: We enrolled fifty-nine obese women (perimenopausal and postmenopausal), aged approximately 56.6 years in a six-week HIIT program.

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Aging is a fundamental biological process that progressively impairs the functionality of the bodily systems, leading to an increased risk of diseases. Telomere length is one of the most often used biomarkers of aging. Recent research has focused on developing interventions to mitigate the effects of aging and improve the quality of life.

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Age-related differences in physical activity (PA), maturity status (PHV), physical performance (PP), and academic achievement (AA) among schoolchildren in Qatar were examined. Sixty-nine students from a school in Doha were categorized into three equal (n = 23) groups: 11-year-old students (U11; male: n = 14), 12-year-old students (U12: male: n = 7), and 13-year-old students (U13: male: n = 11). The testing process comprised a medicine ball throw, Stork balance test, hand grip strength test, the T-half test (PP), GPA in Arabic, mathematics, science (AA), International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form (PA), and Moore's equations (PHV).

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Introduction: Physical activity-associated immune response plays a crucial role in the aging process. This study aimed to determine the impact of short-term moderate physical activity on cytokine levels, oxidative stress markers, and telomere length in lean/overweight young subjects.

Methods: Fasting blood samples were collected from 368 participants at Qatar Biobank.

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Physical activity (PA) is known to have beneficial effects on health, primarily through its antioxidative stress properties. However, the specific metabolic pathways that underlie these effects are not fully understood. This study aimed to investigate the metabolic pathways that are involved in the protective effects of moderate PA in non-obese and healthy individuals.

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For a person with a disability, participating in sports activities and/or competitions can be a challenge for the immune system. The relationship between exercise and immunity response in disabled athletes is, indeed, extremely complex for several reasons, including (1) the chronic low-grade inflammatory and immunodepression-"secondary immune deficiency"-state imposed by the disability/impairment; (2) the impact of the disability on an array of variables, spanning from physical fitness to well-being, quality of life, sleep, and nutritional aspects, among others, which are known to mediate/modulate the effects of exercise on human health; (3) the variability of the parameters related to the exercise/physical activity (modality, frequency, intensity, duration, training versus competition, etc.); and (4) the intra- and inter-individual variability of the immunological response to exercise.

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Article Synopsis
  • * The research analyzed data from 305 young participants in Qatar, categorizing them into four groups based on their insulin sensitivity and activity levels.
  • * Significant differences were found in metabolite levels: active individuals showed changes in lipid metabolism, while sedentary individuals exhibited alterations in glucose metabolism, highlighting the positive effects of physical activity on metabolic health.
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Background: Lipodystrophy is one of the most frequent complications in people with diabetes following subcutaneous insulin therapy, and poor management can lead to several problems, such as impaired glycemic control and adherence to therapy, anxiety, and depression. Poor injection technique represents the main risk factor for lipodystrophies. In order to enhance the patient’s insulin injection technique to heal lipodystrophy, improve psychological indices, and promote involvement in their health and care, the efficacy of emerging person-centered care called the IARA model was tested.

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The immunomodulatory effect of physical activity can impact insulin signaling differentially in adipose tissues and skeletal muscle cells, depending on sport intensity. In this study, the effect of serum from elite athletes with varying endurance levels and playing different power sports on cytokine secretion and insulin signaling in preadipocyte and skeletal muscle cell lines was investigated. Preadipocytes (3T3-L1) and skeletal muscle cells (C2C12) were cultured in media containing pooled sera from elite athletes who play high-endurance (HE), high-power (HP), or low-endurance/low-power (LE/LP) sports for 72 h.

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Endurance training is associated with physiological changes in elite athletes, but little is known about female-specific effects of endurance training. Despite the significant rise in female sports participation, findings from studies performed on male athletes are largely extrapolated to females without taking into consideration sex-specific differences in metabolism. Subsequently, this study aimed to investigate the steroid hormone profiles of elite female endurance athletes in comparison with their non-athletic counterparts.

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Together with environment and experience (that is to say, diet and training), the biological and genetic make-up of an athlete plays a major role in exercise physiology. Sports genomics has shown, indeed, that some DNA single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) can be associated with athlete performance and level (such as elite/world-class athletic status), having an impact on physical activity behavior, endurance, strength, power, speed, flexibility, energetic expenditure, neuromuscular coordination, metabolic and cardio-respiratory fitness, among others, as well as with psychological traits. Athletic phenotype is complex and depends on the combination of different traits and characteristics: as such, it requires a "complex science," like that of metadata and multi-OMICS profiles.

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Biological aging is associated with changes in the metabolic pathways. Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is a predictive marker of biological aging; however, the underlying metabolic pathways remain largely unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the metabolic alterations and identify the metabolic predictors of LTL in elite male soccer players.

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Article Synopsis
  • Aerobic exercise activates the complement system in the blood, but the effects of age and high-intensity training on this system, inflammation, oxidative stress, and cellular aging are not fully understood.
  • A study analyzed serum samples from 79 elite athletes in both high and low/moderate endurance sports, comparing two age groups: under 30 and over 30.
  • Results showed that younger high endurance athletes had significantly lower levels of certain complements (C2, C3b/iC3b, adipsin) and negative correlations with telomere length, indicating less inflammation and lower markers of cellular aging compared to their older counterparts.
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Exercise training is one of the few therapeutic interventions that improves health span by delaying the onset of age-related diseases and preventing early death. The length of telomeres, the 5'-TTAGGG -3' tandem repeats at the ends of mammalian chromosomes, is one of the main indicators of biological age. Telomeres undergo shortening with each cellular division.

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Telomeres protect genomic stability and shortening is one of the hallmarks of ageing. Telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) is the major protein component of telomerase, which elongates telomeres. Given that short telomeres are linked to a host of chronic diseases and the therapeutic potential of telomerase-based therapies as treatments and a strategy to extend lifespan, lifestyle factors that increase TERT gene expression and telomerase activity could attenuate telomere attrition and contribute to healthy biological ageing.

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Article Synopsis
  • - This study examines how different sport intensities affect immune responses, cytokine levels, oxidative stress markers, and telomere length in aging elite athletes, using blood samples from 80 participants divided into three intensity groups.
  • - Results show that older athletes had higher levels of TNF-α, while IL-10 and IL-6 concentrations varied by sport intensity and age group. There's also a notable correlation between cytokine levels and antioxidant activity, with telomere length positively linked to sport intensity, especially in younger athletes.
  • - The conclusion indicates that high-intensity athletes experienced less aging, as evidenced by longer telomeres and higher cytokine levels, suggesting a stronger immune response compared to those in lower intensity sports,
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The level of immunoglobulins and cytokines changes with an ageing immune system. This review summarizes findings from studies that have examined the impact of acute and chronic exercise on immunoglobulins and cytokines in the elderly. Our literature analysis revealed that acute endurance exercise resulted in increased secretory salivary immunoglobulin A (SIgA), while acute bouts of muscle strengthening exercise (i.

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This study examined the effects of home confinement on physical activity (PA) and life satisfaction during the COVID-19 outbreak in Qatar. A total of 1144 subjects participated (male: n = 588; female: n = 556; age: 33.1 ± 11.

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Cancer represents a global health concern, imposing a severe burden both from a societal and clinical perspective. Despite the latest advancements and achievements in the treatment and management of malignancy, cancer still imposes a dramatically high burden worldwide. Different theories (biophysical or biochemical, genetic or epigenetic) related to the origin of tumor cells have been put forth.

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The present contribution briefly overviews the major biological functions of the plasma membrane and of the transport proteins (transporters), which enable the movement of different molecules and substrates (either charged or uncharged) by passive (facilitated diffusion) or active transport. In particular, transporters are overviewed at the level of the skeletal muscles, which represent a highly complex, heterogeneous, plastic and dynamic tissue and are one of the most abundant tissues in humans, accounting for up to 40% of their total weight and containing up to 50%-75% of all body proteins. Moreover, it is shown how sport and physical activity finely tune and modulate human proteome, especially in terms of structural and functional improvements concerning the density of the transport proteins.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study investigates how different exercise regimens affect cytokine and oxidative stress levels in elite male athletes from various sports, examining their implications for muscle damage and cardiovascular demand.
  • - Serum samples from 88 athletes across five sports disciplines were analyzed, revealing that markers like IL-10, SOD, and MDA varied significantly based on power output and cardiovascular demand.
  • - Findings suggest that specific inflammatory and oxidative stress markers differ by sport type, which could serve as useful indicators for assessing athletes' health, performance, and recovery.
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Horses (Equus ferus caballus) have evolved over the past 300 years in response to man-made selection for particular athletic traits. Some of the selected traits were selected based on the size and horses' muscular power (eg Clydesdales), whereas other breeds were bred for peak running performance (eg Thoroughbred and Arabian). Although the physiological changes and some of the cellular adaptations responsible for athletic potential of horses have been identified, the molecular mechanisms are only just beginning to be comprehensively investigated.

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Proper nutrition plays a major role in preventing diseases and, therefore, nutritional interventions constitute crucial strategies in the field of Public Health. Nutrigenomics and nutriproteomics are arising from the integration of nutritional, genomics and proteomics specialties in the era of postgenomics medicine. In particular, nutrigenomics and nutriproteomics focus on the interaction between nutrients and the human genome and proteome, respectively, providing insights into the role of diet in carcinogenesis.

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