Cutoff and target values for intra-abdominal fat area for prevention of metabolic disorders in pre- and post-menopausal obese women before and after weight reduction.

BACKGROUND: The Japan Society for the Study of Obesity originally proposed a cutoff value of >100 cm(2) for the intra-abdominal fat area (IFA) as a definition for "visceral fat obesity" in Japanese adults. There are no studies on the cutoff or target values after weight reduction in pre- and post-menopausal women. METHODS AND RESULTS: In the present study 149 pre-menopausal obese women (PreM, 43.3 years, 27.3 kg/m(2)) and 58 post-menopausal women (PostM, 53.9 years, 27.7 kg/m(2)) participated in a 14-week weight reduction program. The IFA was measured by computed tomography. The program induced significant reductions in body weight (8.6 kg in PreM and 7.8 kg in PostM). The IFA decreased significantly from 80.4 +/- 41.3 to 50.7 +/- 23.8 (PreM) and from 115.4 +/- 38.0 to 75.7 +/- 30.5 (PostM). CONCLUSIONS: The receiver-operating characteristic curve analyses revealed that the appropriate cutoff values were 80 cm(2) (PreM) and 110 cm(2) (PostM) before the program, and after the program the appropriate target values were determined as 60 and 70 cm(2), respectively.

Potential role of vitamin D receptor gene polymorphism in determining bone phenotype in young male athletes.

The genetic difference among individuals partly explains variance in adaptive response to exercise through gene-environment interaction. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the role of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphism, which locates at the translation initiation site, in the adaptations of bone to long-term impact loading. The VDR genotypes, as detected by endonuclease Fok I, and bone phenotypes of the lumbar spine and femoral neck were examined in 44 highly trained young male athletes and 44 age-matched nonathletic controls. As a whole, the athletes had a significantly higher bone mineral content resulting from a combination of increased volume and density at both sites than the controls. When the athletes were compared with the controls within each VDR genotype, however, the increased spinal volume was found only in the athletes with the FF but not in those with the Ff genotype("F" for the absence of the endonuclease Fok I restriction site and "f" for its presence). Differences in bone mineral content in the lumbar spine and femoral neck between the controls and the athletes were greater in subjects with FF than those with Ff. Our results suggest a gene-environment interaction in that the bone phenotypes in individuals with FF adapt to impact loading by producing stronger bone structure than those with the Ff do.

Randomised controlled trial comparing the effectiveness of electroacupuncture and TENS for low back pain: a preliminary study for a pragmatic trial.

The objective of this study was to compare the effectiveness of electroacupuncture and TENS for low back pain when the electroacupuncture is applied in a clinically realistic manner. The study was designed as an evaluator-blinded randomised controlled trial (RCT). The study was performed at the Tsukuba College of Technology Clinic in Japan. Twenty subjects, who suffered from low back pain (LBP) without sciatica, were recruited, using leaflets in Tsukuba city. Subjects were allocated to either an electroacupuncture (EA) group (10 patients) or a transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) group (10 patients). The procedure for EA was in accordance with standard practice at our clinic. The main outcome measures were a pain relief scale (100 mm visual analogue scale: VAS) and a LBP score recommended by the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA Score). Mean VAS value during the 2-weeks experimental period of the EA group was significantly smaller than that of the TENS group (65 mm vs 86 mm; 95% CI, 4.126 - 37.953). JOA Score in the EA group improved significantly while that in the TENS group showed no change. Although some placebo effect may be included, EA appeared more useful than TENS in the short-term effect on low back pain. We suggest that more realistic acupuncture interventions based on standard practice should be employed in pragmatic RCTs.