Effects of resistance exercise on physical health in middle-aged and elderly women / Efeitos do exercício de resistência sobre a saúde física de mulheres de meia-idade e idosas / Efectos del ejercicio de resistencia en la salud física de mujeres de mediana y avanzada edad

ABSTRACT Introduction: Several methods of sports training are applied to improve physical health in middle-aged and elderly women. Among the emerging ones is resistance exercise, despite little evidence about its effects in this population group. Objective: Explore the effects of resistance exercise on promoting muscle health and reducing cardiovascular risk in middle-aged and elderly women. Methods: A questionnaire on the level of muscle health and cardiovascular risk factors of 100 middle-aged and elderly women was conducted. A total of 20 middle-aged and elderly women were randomly selected as participants, and the experimental group performed resistance exercise training, while the control group performed simple exercise training. Results: In the muscle health indicators of the experimental group, BMI decreased by 0.3%, body fat decreased by 1.3%, waist-to-hip ratio decreased by 0.01, fat decreased by 1.7 kg, lean weight increased by 2.8 kg, and protein decreased by 0.9 kg. The changes in cardiovascular health indicators in the experimental group were greater than those in the control group. Conclusion: Resistance exercise can effectively improve muscle health in middle-aged and elderly women, reducing cardiovascular risk. Level of evidence II; Therapeutic studies - investigation of treatment outcomes.

RESUMO Introdução: Diversos métodos de treinamento esportivo são aplicados para melhorar a saúde física de pessoas de meia-idade e idosas. Dentre os emergentes está o exercício de resistência, apesar de pouca evidência sobre seus efeitos neste grupo populacional. Objetivo: Explorar os efeitos do exercício de resistência na promoção da saúde muscular e na redução do risco cardiovascular em pessoas de meia-idade e idosas. Métodos: Foi realizado um questionário sobre o nível de saúde muscular e fatores de risco cardiovascular de 100 mulheres de meia-idade e idosas. Um total de 20 mulheres de meia-idade e idosas foram selecionadas aleatoriamente como participantes, e o grupo experimental realizou treinamento com exercícios resistidos, enquanto o grupo controle realizou treinamento com exercícios simples. Resultados: Nos indicadores de saúde muscular do grupo experimental, o IMC diminuiu 0,3%, a gordura corporal diminuiu 1,3%, a relação cintura/quadril diminuiu 0,01, a gordura diminuiu 1,7 kg, o peso magro aumentou 2,8 kg, e a proteína diminuiu 0,9 kg. As mudanças nos indicadores de saúde cardiovascular no grupo experimental foram maiores do que as do grupo de controle. Conclusão: O exercício de resistência pode efetivamente melhorar a saúde muscular em mulheres de meia-idade e idosas, reduzindo o risco cardiovascular. Nível de evidência II; Estudos terapêuticos - investigação dos resultados do tratamento.

RESUMEN Introducción: Se aplican varios métodos de entrenamiento deportivo para mejorar la salud física de las personas de mediana y avanzada edad. Entre los emergentes se encuentra el ejercicio de resistencia, a pesar de la poca evidencia sobre sus efectos en este grupo poblacional. Objetivo: Explorar los efectos del ejercicio de resistencia en la promoción de la salud muscular y la reducción del riesgo cardiovascular en personas de mediana edad y ancianas. Métodos: Se realizó un cuestionario sobre el nivel de salud muscular y los factores de riesgo cardiovascular de 100 mujeres de mediana edad y ancianas. Un total de 20 mujeres de mediana edad y ancianas fueron seleccionadas aleatoriamente como participantes, y el grupo experimental realizó entrenamiento con ejercicios de resistencia, mientras que el grupo de control realizó entrenamiento con ejercicios simples. Resultados: En los indicadores de salud muscular del grupo experimental, el IMC disminuyó un 0,3%, la grasa corporal disminuyó un 1,3%, la relación cintura-cadera disminuyó un 0,01, la grasa disminuyó 1,7 kg, el peso magro aumentó 2,8 kg y las proteínas disminuyeron 0,9 kg. Los cambios en los indicadores de salud cardiovascular del grupo experimental fueron mayores que los del grupo de control. Conclusión: El ejercicio de resistencia puede mejorar eficazmente la salud muscular en mujeres de mediana y avanzada edad, reduciendo el riesgo cardiovascular. Nivel de evidencia II; Estudios terapéuticos - investigación de los resultados del tratamiento.

Effects of hepatitis B virus on human semen parameters and sperm DNA integrity / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effects of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in semen on human semen parameters and sperm DNA integrity.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We detected HBV DNA in the semen samples of 153 HBsAg-seropositive patients by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR and calculated the sperm nuclear DNA fragmentation index (DFI) by sperm chromatin dispersion (SCD) assay. We compared the semen parameters between the HBV DNA-positive group (A, n = 43) and HBV DNA-negative group (B, n = 110) and analyzed the correlation of sperm DFI with the number of HBV DNA copies in the semen.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>HBV DNA was detected in 43 (28.1%) of the 153 semen samples. No statistically significant differences were observed in age, semen volume and sperm concentration between groups A and B (P >0.05). Compared with group B, group A showed significantly decreased sperm viability ([58.0 +/- 18.8]% vs [51.4 +/-17.1]%, P<0.05), progressively motile sperm ([29.6 +/- 13.3]% vs [24.5 +/- 10.1]%, P<0.05), average straight-line velocity ([23.7 +/- 4.0] microm/s vs [19.9 +/- 4.5 ] microm/s, P<0.01) and average path velocity ([26.5 +/- 7.0] microm/s vs [23.4 +/- 5.3] microm/s, P<0.01), but remarkably decreased sperm DFI ([19.3 +/- 8.0]% vs [24.2 +/- 9.4]%, P<0.01). The number of HBV DNA copies in semen exhibited a significant positive correlation with sperm DFI (r = 0.819, P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>HBV DNA in semen is not significantly associated with the number of sperm, but may affect sperm viability, velocity and DFI. There is a load-effect relationship between the number of HBV DNA copies in semen and sperm nuclear DNA integrity.</p>

Improvement of carbon tetrachloride drug-induced liver injury model in vitro / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To establish an ideal CCl4 drug-induced liver injury model in vitro.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Traditional method and improved method were adopted for preparing CCl4 injury liquid and drug-induced human liver HepG2 cell injury. Cell morphological change was observed under a bright-field microscope. The level of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in supernatant was detected by biochemical method. 4-Methyl-tetrazolium (MTT) chromatometry was adopted for determining cell activity.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The improved method showed better CCl4-induced injury effect than the traditional method. With the increase in the concentration of CCl4 injury liquid, the ALT level significantly increased, whereas the cell activity notably decreased. Particularly, 70% CCl4 injury liquid use for 4 hours could achieve the best injury effect.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The improved method could be used to establish an ideal CCl4 drug-induced liver injury model in vitro, which can lay foundation for further in vitro studies.</p>

Construction and identification of infectious molecular clone of foot-and-mouth disease virus strain O/CHINA/99 / 病毒学报

Nine primers were designed for the full-length genome of O/CHINA/99 and each sequence fragment was obtained by RT-PCR, and cloned into pOK12 vecter, the full-length genome cDNA clone of O/CHINA/99 was identified by restriction enzymes digestion, PCR, and the whole genome sequencing. The results showed that the O/CHINA/99 whole genome was formed with the length of 8200 nt. The nucleotide sequence of the full-length cDNA shared 99.1% homology with its prototype. RNA synthesized in vitro by means of a bacteriophage T7 promter inserted in front of the cDNA led to the production of infectious particle upon transfection of BHK-21 cell using lipofectamine reagent, as shown by cytopathic effects. The rescued virus had high pathogenicity in mice by endermic infection too. All the results showed that an infectious molecular clone was successfully constructed and rescued virus could be obtained.

Studies on fingerprinting and identification of main species of Herba Epimedii / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To establish an effective method for the identification of Herba Epimedii.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The HPLC fingerprints of 8 officinal species including 5 species recorded in 'Chinese Pharmacopoeia', which are Epimedium brevicornu, E. sagittatum, E. pubescens, E. koreanum and E. wushanense, and the other 3 species, E. acuminatum, E. myrianthum and E. leptorrhizum, recorded in 'Guizhou Quality Criteria for Traditional Chinese Medical Material and Nationality Medical Material', and of other 24 species in genus Epimedium in China as well had been analyzed and some fingerprinting features for the identification had been pointed out.</p><p><b>RESULT AND CONCLUSION</b>The fingerprinting features of E. koreanum are rather different from others and can be used for the species identification. There are some common fingerprinting features in the most samples of E. brevicornu, E. acuminatum and E. myrianthum, respectively, and these features are seldom found in the samples of other species. The HPLC fingerprints of E. pubescens and E. leptorrhizum appear steadily among all samples of the species respectively, but it is difficult to distinguish the spcecies from other species with the HPLC fingerprints only. The HPLC fingerprints of E. sagittatum and E. wushanense vary greatly within the species. It is also showed that the quality of Herba Epimedii varied significantly according to the HPLC features.</p>

Systematic studies on quality of main species of Herba epimedii / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To achieve the quality control of Herba Epimedii, and to evaluate the quality of medical materials of the 8 official species including the 5 species recorded in 'Chinese Pharmacopoeia' including Epimedium brevicornum, E. sagittatum, E. pubescens, E. koreanum and E. wushanense, and the 3 other species (E. acuminatum, E. myrianthum, E. leptorrhizum) recorded in 'Guizhou Quality Criteria for Traditional Chinese Medical Material and Nationality Medical Material', and E. pseudowushanuse (new species) which is used as E. wushanense for a long time.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The contents of icariin and total flavonoids of 102 samples of 9 officinal species of Herba Epimedii were determined by HPLC and UV, respectively.</p><p><b>RESULT AND CONCLUSION</b>The contents of icariin in about 30% of the samples of the 5 species recorded in 'Chinese Pharmacopoeia' were lower than 0.5%, which is acceptable quality recorded in 'Chinese Pharmacopoeia'. Refering the literatures, we suggested the total contents of epimedin A, B, C and icariin (epi-medium multi-glycosides, ABCI) should be established as a new standard instead of the content of icariin. The content of total flavonoids, not less than 5.0%, and ABCI, not less than 1.3%, could be used to evaluate the quality of the above medical materials efficiently.</p>

A review on research of raw material and cut crude drug of Herba epimedii in last ten years / 中国中药杂志

Researches on taxonomy, resources, cultivation, quality, chemicals and processing of Herba Epimedii in last ten years were reviewed. The taxonomy of Chinese species in "Flora of China (Vo1.29)" (published in 2001) and "The genus Epimedium and other herbaceous Berberidaceae" (published in 2002) were mainly introduced and commented. The quality evaluation of raw material of Herba Epimedii, and effects of distribution, growing time and medicinal part on the quality were summarized.

Perfil lipídico y factores de riesgo modificables en cardiopatía isquémica / Lipidic profile and exchange risk factors in isquemic cardiopathy

El presente es un estudio de casos y controles con el objetivo de determinar en nuestro medio las caracteristicas del perfil lipídico y los factores de riesgo modificables en la cardiopatía isquémica y 136 controles (67 hombres, 69 mujeres) con promedio de edad y distribución similar. Se encontro que en todos el incremento de colesterol total y LDL-colesterol asi como la hipertensión tuvo un riesgo relativo mayor en mujeres que en hombres. En los hombres mayores de 60 años la hipertensión fue el único factor de riesgo estadísticamente significativo, no asi los componenetes del perfil lipídico. La hipertrigliciridemia en general tuvo un riesgo relativo significativo y como riesgo relativo fue mas alto en mujeres pero sin alcanzar en ellas valores significativos. Los fenotipos mas frecuentes de hiperlipidemias en pacientes con cardiopatía isquémica fueron IIa, IIb, IV. La diabetes, tabaquismo y obesidad no alcanzaron valores significativos como factor de riesgo