The effects of a walking intervention on depressive feelings and social adaptation in healthy workers.

The effects of walking on mental health problems among healthy Japanese workers are not fully understood. In the present study, we investigated the effects of a four-week walking program on the psychological functioning of a nonclinical sample of healthy workers in Japan.A total of 606 healthy subjects were enrolled in the study and were evaluated by the Zung Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) and the Social Adaptation Self-evaluation Scale (SASS) both before and after the walking program.The subjects were divided into an exercising group and a non-exercising group.There were significant differences in the SDS and SASS scores between the exercising and the non-exercising groups.Following the walking program, the non-exercising group's SDS scores decreased and their SASS scores increased compared to before the walking program.In contrast, the SDS and SASS scores of the exercising group did not change.These results suggest that subjects who exercise regularly experience fewer depressive feelings and exhibit better social adaptation in the workplace than those who do not exercise.The walking program improved depressive feelings and social adaptation in the non-exercising group.

Serotonin potentiates high-glucose-induced endothelial injury: the role of serotonin and 5-HT(2A) receptors in promoting thrombosis in diabetes.

To clarify the involvement of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) in promotion of thrombogenesis in diabetes, we examined the inhibitory effect of sarpogrelate, a 5-HT(2A) receptor antagonist, on thrombus formation in diabetic rats. In streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats, polyethylene tube-induced thrombus formation was enhanced compared with that in normal rats. The thrombogenesis was inhibited by sarpogrelate; cilostazol, a PDE3 inhibitor; and aspirin, a COX inhibitor, by 75.8%, 42.3%, and 34.3%, respectively. The inhibition by sarpogrelate was more pronounced in diabetic rats than normal ones. High glucose and 5-HT increased the expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and combination of both high glucose and 5-HT further potentiated the effect. Sarpogrelate but not aspirin inhibited the increase in VCAM-1 expression induced by high glucose and 5-HT. These findings suggest that 5-HT mediates the enhanced thrombogenesis in diabetes and suggests that a 5-HT(2A) receptor antagonist may have novel therapeutic potential for the treatment of diabetic complications.