The impact of a school backpack's weight, which is carried on the back of a 7-year-old students of both sexes, on the features of body posture in the frontal plane.

BACKGROUND: The lifestyle of children has a significant impact on the future health of the whole society. Therefore, health education, prevention and monitoring of health determinants is important at every stage of ontogenesis. This requires a thorough knowledge of the schoolchild's environment, perceived as a wide set of stressors, including not only genetic but also epigenetic factors. One of them is the issue of the correct and abnormal body posture at school and on the way there. The goal of the study was to show the influence of the weight of the back carried container with school supplies on body posture. METHOD: The research was carried out as part of a project that examined the impact of carrying weights, which are school supplies, by children on their posture. The research material consisted of data obtained from a group of 65 students (35 girls, 30 boys) aged 7 years. Body posture tests were carried out, using the projection moiré method in 4 positions: 1-habitual posture, 2-posture after 10-min of asymmetric axial load, 3-a posture after 1 min of the load removal, 4-a posture after two minutes of the load removal. Physical fitness was measured with the Sekita test. The obtained data were statistically analyzed. RESULTS: The significance of differences between the 1st and 2nd measurements was analyzed to determine the impact of the backpack load and the correlation with physical fitness, and to study its influence on the value of the differences in posture features. Considering the differences in the volume of posture features among boys between the 1st and 2nd measurement, the Wilcoxon's rank test showed a statistically significant difference in the range of all analyzed variables, except for the torso bend angle to the right (KNT+), where no statistically significant change was noted. A statistically significant difference in the volume of all analyzed variables was observed among the girls. CONCLUSIONS: Carrying school supplies on the back induces significant changes in the value of the features describing the body posture in the frontal plane. The greater weight of the container and carrying time, and intensity of physical effort is the greater the changes will be. Physical fitness has a various and sex-dependent influence on the value of changes in body posture features because of carrying school supplies. Among boys it significantly affects the asymmetry of the torso bend, shoulder height, the waist triangles height and width, whereas among girls it affects the asymmetry of the shoulders and the distance of the angles of the lower shoulder blades from the line of the spinous processes of the spine. Among boys the changes in the value of posture features are mostly influenced by endurance and speed, but strength, power and agility are of lower influence, whereas among girls only agility matters.

The effects of the weight of school supplies carried on the right or left shoulder on postural features in the sagittal and transverse planes in seven-year-old pupils of both genders.

PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to examine how the weight of a school backpack with school supplies carried on the right or left shoulder influences body posture in schoolchildren. METHODS: The study of body posture was carried out on a group of 65 pupils aged 7, using the mora projection method in the following eight positions: (four positions for the diagonal loading of the right shoulder and four positions for the loading of the left shoulder) 1 - the habitual posture, 2 - the posture after a 10-minute asymmetric loading, 3 - the posture one minute after removing the load and 4 - the posture two minutes after removing the load. The fitness level was measured using the Sekita test. RESULTS: Among the boys, the load on the left or right shoulder showed a statistically significant difference in the analyzed features, apart from the angle of inclination of the lumbosacral segment for the load on the right shoulder. In the girls, significant differences were observed in all of the analyzed features. CONCLUSIONS: The mode of carriage of school items may cause significant adaptation changes in the skeletal, muscular, and nervous system. Overall fitness affects the size of postural changes. The method of carriage of school supplies with asymmetric loading of the body trunk should not be practised among 7-year-old children of both sexes. The load should be smaller to affect the posture symmetrically.

Is the Combination of COL1A1 Gene Polymorphisms a Marker of Injury Risk?

CONTEXT: The most commonly injured body part for skiing has been found to be the knee. The rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) was the most frequent diagnosis. ACL ruptures are determined by several extrinsic and intrinsic risk factors including those that are hormonal, neuromuscular, anatomical, or genetic. OBJECTIVES: To examine the association of both COL1A1 rs1800012 (+1245G/T) and COL1A1 rs1107946 (-1997G/T) polymorphisms, individually and as haplotypes, with ACL ruptures in recreational Polish skiers. DESIGN: Genomic DNA was extracted from buccal cells donated by the subjects, and genotyping was carried out using real-time polymerase chain reaction. SETTINGS: University laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: 138 male recreational skiers with surgically diagnosed primary ruptures and 183 apparently healthy male recreational skiers not differing markedly in age or level of exposure to ACL injury. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: COL1A1 rs1800012 and COL1A1 rs1107946 polymorphisms. RESULTS: There were significant differences in genotype distribution of the COL1A1 rs1800012 polymorphism between the ACL rupture group and the control group. The GG homozygotes were underrepresented in the ACL rupture group compared with the control group. There were no significant differences in genotype distribution or allele frequency of COL1A1 rs1107946 polymorphisms between the ACL rupture group and the control group. The G-G (COL1A1 rs1800012G and COL1A1 rs1107946G) haplotype was the most common. There were no significant differences in haplotype distribution between the ACL-rupture and control groups. CONCLUSION: The study showed that GG homozygotes were underrepresented in the ACL-rupture group compared with the control group, which suggests an association with reduced risk of ACL injury.

TNF-α concentrations in pre-operative synovial fluid for predicting early post-operative function and pain after fast-track total knee arthroplasty.

BACKGROUND: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) helps regulate neuroinflammation and anxiety and could conceivable predict early post-operative pain and function after fast-track total knee arthroplasty (TKA). METHODS: In patients with severe osteoarthritic knees undergoing TKA, we assessed: the correlations between pre-operative concentrations of TNF-α in synovial fluid; pre- and six-week post-operative knee function and pain; pre- and post-operative anxiety; pre- and post-operative synovial fluid concentrations of cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP); age and body mass index (BMI). RESULTS: Of 100 enrolled patients, 78 had evaluable TNF-α data, and 58 had evaluable COMP data. Pre-operative TNF-α concentrations were inversely correlated with post-operative pain scores during walking (rS=-0.26, P=0.03) and with change of pain at rest during six weeks after TKA (rs=-0.28, P=0.03) and were directly correlated with a higher post-operative Knee Society score (KSS) (rS=0.43, P<0.001) and with greater increases in this score during six weeks after TKA (rS=0.33, P=0.001). Mean TNF-α concentrations were higher in the 39 patients reporting any pre-operative pain at rest than in 36 patients reporting no pre-operative pain (P=0.015) and were the only independent predictor of pre-operative pain at rest (OR=13, P=0.02). Independent predictors of better post-operative knee function were higher log-transformed TNF-α concentrations (ß=0.38, P=0.002) and male sex (ß=0.28, P=0.02). CONCLUSIONS: High levels of pre-operative TNF-α concentrations could be used as an independent predictor of better knee function at six weeks of follow-up. In patients with lower pre-operative TNF-α concentrations, post-operative pain management may improve the early outcome of the operated joint.

Influence of biological factors on injuries occurrence in the Polish population.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Anterior cruciate ligament rupture is one of the most common knee injuries in sports. Although various intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors have been identified, the exact aetiology of the injury is not yet fully understood. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the collagen type I (COL1A1) gene have been shown to be associated with several complex connective tissue disorders. The aim of this study was to examine the association of -1997G/T polymorphisms in the COL1A1 gene with ACL ruptures in Polish recreational skiers in a case-control study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 180 male and female recreational skiers with surgically diagnosed with primary ACL ruptures were recruited for the study, all of whom qualified for ligament reconstruction. The control group was comprised of 245 apparently healthy male and female skiers with a comparable level of exposure to ACL injury, none of whom had any self-reported history of ligament or tendon injury. DNA samples extracted from the oral epithelial cells were genotyped for -1997G/T polymorphisms using PCR method. RESULTS: Genotype distribution in the cases (GG-82.2% GT-16.7%; TT-1.1%) showed significant difference (P=0.036) compared to controls (GG-71.4% GT-26.5%; TT-2.2%). The frequency of the GG genotype in the ACL rupture group was also statistically significant (p=0.011, Fisher's exact test recessive mode: GG vs GT+TT). The frequency of the G allele was higher in these cases (90.6%), and also statistically significant (p=0.012) when compared with controls (84.7%). CONCLUSION: The results obtained indicate that the -1997G/T COL1A1 gene is one of the genetic markers to be taken into the consideration in the identification of the risk of ACL injury.

The Variants Within the COL5A1 Gene are Associated with Reduced Risk of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury in Skiers.

The purpose of this study was to examine the association of the BstUI RFLP C/T (rs 12722) and DpnII RFLP C/T (rs 13946) COL5A1 polymorphisms, individually and as haplotypes, with anterior cruciate ligament ruptures in recreational skiers. Subjects were 138 male recreational skiers with surgically diagnosed primary anterior cruciate ligament ruptures. The control group consisted of 183 apparently healthy male recreational skiers, who were without any self-reported history of ligament or tendon injury. DNA was extracted from buccal cells donated by the subjects and genotyping was carried out using real-time PCR. The genotype distributions for both polymorphisms met Hardy-Weinberg expectations in both groups. There were no significant differences in genotype distribution of allele frequencies of COL5A1 BstUI RFLP C/T and COL5A1 DpnII RFLP C/T polymorphisms between the ACL rupture and control groups. The T-T (BstUI RFLP T, DpnII RFLP T) haplotype was the most common (55.6%). The haplotype T-C was not present in any of the subjects. There was an underrepresentation tendency of the C-T haplotype in the study group compared to controls under recessive mode of inheritance. Higher frequency of the COL5A1 BstUI RFLP C/T and COL5A1DpnII RFLP C/T polymorphisms haplotype is associated with reduced risk of anterior cruciate ligament injury in a group of apparently healthy male recreational skiers.

Interactions between collagen gene variants and risk of anterior cruciate ligament rupture.

The COL5A1 and COL12A1 variants are independently associated with modulating the risk of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture in females. The objective of this study was to further investigate if COL3A1 and COL6A1 variants independently, as well as, collagen gene-gene interactions, modulate ACL rupture risk. Three hundred and thirty-three South African (SA, n = 242) and Polish (PL, n = 91) participants with diagnosed ACL ruptures and 378 controls (235 SA and 143 PL) were recruited. Participants were genotyped for COL3A1 rs1800255 G/A, COL5A1 rs12722 (T/C), COL6A1 rs35796750 (T/C) and COL12A1 rs970547 (A/G). No significant associations were identified between COL6A1 rs35796750 and COL3A1 rs1800255 genotypes and risk of ACL rupture in the SA cohort. The COL3A1 AA genotype was, however, significantly (p = 0.036) over-represented in the PL ACL group (9.9%, n = 9) when compared to the PL control (CON) group (2.8%, n = 4). Although there were genotype distribution differences between the SA and PL cohorts, the T+A-inferred pseudo-haplotype constructed from COL5A1 and COL12A1 was significantly over-represented in the female ACL group when compared to the female CON group within the SA (T+A ACL 50.5%, T+A CON 38.1%, p = 0.022), PL (T+A ACL 56.3%, T+A CON 36.3%, p = 0.029) and combined (T+A ACL 51.8%, T+A CON 37.5%, p = 0.004) cohorts. In conclusion, the novel main finding of this study was a significant interaction between the COL5A1 rs12722 T/C and COL12A1 rs970547 A/G variants and risk of ACL injury. These results highlight the importance of investigating gene-gene interactions in the aetiology of ACL ruptures in multiple independent cohorts.

Gene variants within the COL1A1 gene are associated with reduced anterior cruciate ligament injury in professional soccer players.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the association of the COL1A1 -1997G/T and +1245G/T polymorphisms, individually and as haplotypes, with anterior cruciate ligament ruptures in professional soccer players. DESIGN: Subjects were 91 male professional soccer players with surgically diagnosed primary anterior cruciate ligament ruptures. The control group consisted of 143 apparently healthy male professional soccer players, who were without any self-reported history of ligament or tendon injury. Both subjects and healthy controls are from the same soccer teams, of the same ethnicity (Polish, East-Europeans for ≥3 generations), a similar age category, and had a comparable level of exposure to anterior cruciate ligament injury. METHODS: Genomic DNA was extracted from the oral epithelial cells using GenElute Mammalian Genomic DNA Miniprep Kit (Sigma, Germany). All samples were genotyped using a Rotor-Gene real-time polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Genotype distributions for both polymorphisms met the Hardy-Weinberg expectations in both subjects and controls (p>0.05). Higher frequency of the COL1A1 G-T (-1997G/T and +1245G/T polymorphisms) haplotype was significantly associated with reduced risk for anterior cruciate ligament rupture (Hap.score -1.98, p=0.048). The TT genotype was under-represented in the anterior cruciate ligament rupture group. However, this result was not statistically significant (p=0.084 Fisher's exact test, recessive mode: TT vs GT+GG). CONCLUSIONS: Higher frequency of the COL1A1 G-T haplotype is associated with reduced risk of anterior cruciate ligament injury in a group of professional soccer players. Consequently, carrying two copies the COL1A1 G-T haplotype may be protective against anterior cruciate ligament injury.