Effect of strength training on resting metabolic rate and physical activity: age and gender comparisons.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare age and gender effects of strength training (ST) on resting metabolic rate (RMR), energy expenditure of physical activity (EEPA), and body composition. METHODS: RMR and EEPA were measured before and after 24 wk of ST in 10 young men (20-30 yr), 9 young women (20-30 yr), 11 older men (65-75 yr), and 10 older women (65-75 yr). RESULTS: When all subjects were pooled together, absolute RMR significantly increased by 7% (5928 +/- 1225 vs 6328 +/- 1336 kJ.d-1, P < 0.001). Furthermore, ST increased absolute RMR by 7% in both young (6302 +/- 1458 vs 6719 +/- 1617 kJ x d(-1), P < 0.01) and older (5614 +/- 916 vs 5999 +/- 973 kJ x d(-1), P < 0.05) subjects, with no significant interaction between the two age groups. In contrast, there was a significant gender x time interaction (P < 0.05) for absolute RMR with men increasing RMR by 9% (6645 +/- 1073 vs 7237 +/- 1150 kJ x d(-1), P < 0.001), whereas women showed no significant increase (5170 +/- 884 vs 5366 +/- 692 kJ x d(-1), P = 0.108). When RMR was adjusted for fat-free mass (FFM) using ANCOVA, with all subjects pooled together, there was still a significant increase in RMR with ST. Additionally, there was still a gender effect (P < 0.05) and no significant age effect (P = NS), with only the men still showing a significant elevation in RMR. Moreover, EEPA and TEE estimated with a Tritrac accelerometer and TEE estimated by the Stanford Seven-Day Physical Activity Recall Questionnaire did not change in response to ST for any group. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, changes in absolute and relative RMR in response to ST are influenced by gender but not age. In contrast to what has been suggested previously, changes in body composition in response to ST are not due to changes in physical activity outside of training.

Effects of estrogen status and aging on salivary flow rates in healthy Caucasian women.

A comparison of salivary flow rates was made between three groups of female individuals according to their menopausal status. The three groups consisted of healthy, dentate, nonmedicated women (with the exception of the use of estrogen) from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. One group consisted of premenopausal women (n = 51), their mean age was 39 years. Another group (n = 26) was perimenopausal with a mean age of 48 years. A third group (n = 76) was postmenopausal with a mean age of 69 years. The groups were evaluated for unstimulated (UPAR) and stimulated parotid gland flow rates (SPAR), unstimulated (USUB) and stimulated submandibular/sublingual gland flow rates (SSUB), and stimulated whole-saliva flow rates (SWHOLE). The parotid flow rates were determined using a Carlson-Crittenden cup, while the submandibular/sublingual flow rates were determined using the National Institute of Dental Research collector. A 2% citrate solution was used for stimulation in glandular collections. Chewing a 1-cm3 cube of paraffin was used to stimulate whole saliva. The results showed no significant differences in UPAR, SPAR, and SWHOLE between the three groups. However, the premenopausal women had higher USUB than the postmenopausal group. The premenopausal women also had higher SSUB than perimenopausal and postmenopausal groups. There were no differences in salivary flow rates between those taking estrogen and those that were not medicated.

Prostatic acid phosphatase, beta-glucuronidase and prostate specific antigen assays in fine needle aspirates from benign and malignant prostates.

Enzymatic assays for tartrate-sensitive acid phosphatase and beta-glucuronidase, and radio-immunoassay for prostate-specific antigen, were modified for application to fine-needle aspirate samples from benign and malignant human prostates. When compared to samples from benign prostates, the ratio of acid phosphatase to beta-glucuronidase activities was significantly decreased in needle aspirates from malignant prostates. Prostate-specific antigen values in the aspirates did not correlate with malignancy.

Working group recommendations: measuring outcomes of care in geriatric evaluation and management units.

Issues related to measuring outcomes of care in geriatric evaluation and management (GEM) units were identified by the outcomes working group of the GEM evaluation conference. GEM units have as a major goal the improvement or maintenance of both physical and psychosocial function. Suggested outcome measures for physical health included survival, restricted activity days, general health perceptions, comprehensive physical function, and miscellaneous specific types of functioning. In the area of psycho-social function, the working group suggested measuring cognitive function, affect/life satisfaction, social function, and satisfaction with care. The patient's caregiver (eg, spouse or child) is often an important target of GEM care, and the group suggested measuring caregiver burden, life satisfaction, and assessment of patient behavior problems. While the primary goal of GEM units is to improve health status, their effects on the utilization and cost of health care are important to decisions about wide-spread implementation and funding. The group therefore suggested a comprehensive assessment of these outcomes. Among the large array of recommended outcomes, the most important were thought to be mortality, function, and cost.

Anaplastic large cell (Ki-1) lymphoma with histiocytic phenotype simulating carcinoma.

Histiocytic and epithelial cell types share many cytomorphologic and functional characteristics; it is predictable, therefore, that corresponding malignancies might be difficult to distinguish. Described is the case of a 52-year-old woman in whom disseminated anaplastic large-cell lymphoma simulated carcinomatosis by conventional morphologic criteria. Evidence of histiocytic differentiation was derived from immunocytochemical, fine structural, and genetic probe analyses. The diagnosis of histiocytic neoplasia is discussed in relation to categories previously termed malignant histiocytosis, "Ki-1" lymphoma, and regressing atypical histiocytosis, and comparisons are made with animal tumor models.

Tissue-specific hypomethylation of the human c-K-ras gene.

Methylation of the c-K-ras gene was examined in a wide variety of human tissues using the methylation sensitive restriction endonuclease HpaII. All tissues showed hypomethylation in the region of exon zero. Specific hypomethylation of a particular HpaII site in the second intron was observed in gastrointestinal and tracheobronchial epithelial cell DNAs. Specific hypomethylation was also observed in a cluster of HpaII sites within the first intron in sperm, endometrium and placenta DNAs. These regions were predominantly methylated in a wide variety of other tissues, including fetal gut. The possible implications are discussed.

Cultured primate aortic smooth muscle cells express both the PDGF-A and PDGF-B genes but do not secrete mitogenic activity or dimeric platelet-derived growth factor protein.

Proliferation of smooth muscle cells (SMC) in the arterial intima of man and experimental animals is important in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Vascular SMC proliferation in vitro is stimulated by a number of agents, including the potent protein mitogen, platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF). Recent studies on rat arterial SMC indicate that these cells may, under certain circumstances, synthesize PDGF protein mitogens, suggesting that the regulation of SMC proliferation in vivo may have an autocrine or paracrine component. In this study we demonstrate that cultured nonhuman primate (baboon) aortic SMC transcribe both the PDGF-A and PDGF-B genes but do not secrete detectable mitogenic activity characteristic of native PDGF. The absence of this activity was not due to the presence in the cell conditioned medium of factors inhibitory for PDGF-mediated mitogenic activity. Metabolic labeling of the cells and immunoprecipitation with specific antibodies to human PDGF did not detect a dimeric (30 kDa) PDGF protein in either the intracellular or extracellular compartments, but instead identified PDGF-related proteins of molecular weight 12 kDa and 100 kDa. These data suggest the presence in vascular SMC of a mechanism regulating the translation of PDGF mRNA that may play an important role in the control of SMC proliferation in vivo.

Tomographic mapping of human cerebral metabolism visual stimulation and deprivation.

Positron computed tomography was used to investigate changes in the local cerebral metabolic rate for glucose (LCMRGlc) of the visual cortex. Progressive increases in LCMRGlc were found from eyes-closed control to stimulation with white light, alternating black/white checkerboard pattern, and a complex visual scene of a park, with the associative visual cortex increasing at a faster rate than the primary visual cortex as the visual scene complexity increased. A graded decrease in LCMRGlc of the visual cortex was found with a stepwise deletion of spontaneous cell firing at the retinal, geniculate and cortical level due to lesions. Left/right metabolic symmetry of the visual cortex during monocular stimulation confirms 50% crossing of the human visual system. Neonatal blindness showed no apparent degeneration of the visual cortex and was equivalent to eyes-closed controls. The interictal state of a patient with visual seizures demonstrated a hypometabolic visual cortex with a 2.5-fold increase in metabolism during an ictal visual hallucination.

Studies on angiotensinogen of plasma and cerebrospinal fluid in normal and hypertensive human subjects.

The presence of a renin-angiotensin system in the central nervous system (CNS) has been demonstrated by several investigators, but little is known regarding the origin of its components. In this study we have compared the immunological and physical-chemical nature of angiotensinogen in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of human subjects and explored whether differences are present in CSF angiotensinogen concentrations of normal and hypertensive subjects. No significant differences in the nature of plasma and CSF angiotensinogen was observed with respect to molecular weight (65-70,000) electrophoretic mobility (RFalb = 0.67 plus or minus 0.003) or angiotensin I (AI) generated (pI = 6.6). Following isoelectric focusing, the plasma angiotensinogen was shown to consist of a single component with an isoionic point of 4.40 plus or minus 0.04. CSF angiotensinogen, on the other hand, resolved into three components (pI = 4.76 plus or minus 0.02; 5.16 plus or minus 0.04; 5.76 plus or minus 0.04). Although no correlations were observed between angiotensinogen levels in the CSF or plasma with blood pressure (BP), a statistically significant difference in angiotensinogen concentration of both plasma and CSF was observed between normotensive and hypertensive subjects. The differences in the chemical and immunological nature of human plasma and CSF angiotensinogens suggest that the angiotensinogen of CSF is not of peripheral origin.

Oncocytoma of kidney.

Two cases of oncocytoma of the kidney are presented. The clinical and pathologic characteristics of this rare tumor are described and compared with those of renal cell carcinoma.