Relationship between moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, abdominal fat and immunometabolic markers in postmenopausal women.

OBJECTS: To assess the burden of levels of physical activity, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA), triacylglycerol and abdominal fat on the immunometabolic profile of postmenopausal women. STUDY DESIGN: Forty-nine postmenopausal women [mean age 59.43 (standard deviation 5.61) years] who did not undertake regular physical exercise participated in this study. Body composition was assessed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and levels of NEFA, tumour necrosis factor-α, adiponectin, insulin and triacylglycerol were assessed using fasting blood samples. The level of physical activity was assessed using an accelerometer (Actigraph GTX3x), and reported as counts/min, time spent undertaking sedentary activities and time spent undertaking moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). The following conditions were considered to be risk factors: (i) sedentary lifestyle (<150min of MVPA per week); (ii) high level (above median) of abdominal fat; and (iii) hypertriacylglycerolaemia (<150mg/dl of triacylglycerol). RESULTS: In comparison with active women, sedentary women had higher levels of body fat (%) (p=0.041) and NEFA (p=0.064). Women with higher levels of abdominal fat had impaired insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) (p=0.016) and spent more time undertaking sedentary activities (p=0.043). Moreover, the women with two risk factors or more had high levels of NEFA and HOMA-IR (p<0.05), as well as an eight-fold higher risk of a high level of NEFA, independent of age (p<0.05). No significant relationship was found between levels of physical activity, abdominal fat, tumour necrosis factor-α and adiponectin (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: Postmenopausal women with a combination of hypertriacylglycerolaemia, a high level of abdominal fat and a sedentary lifestyle are more likely to have metabolic disturbances.

Appendicular Lean Soft Tissue: Development and Cross-Validation of Predictive Models for Older Men and Women.

BACKGROUND: Sarcopenia may explain, in a large proportion, physical disability, falls and fractures, especially in aged elderly. However, a diagnosis in an operationally systematic, simple and low cost way is extremely important, particularly for home-based, epidemiological studies. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to develop and validate predictive equations of appendicular lean soft tissue (ALST) in elderly older than 80 years. DESIGN AND SETTINGS: A validation study was performed in 106 elderly (men and women) aged 80 years and older. MEASUREMENTS: Body weight, height, circumference (arm, midcalf, hip and waist) and triceps skinfold were measured in the elderly. ALST were measured using as the reference method dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). RESULTS: Two models were predicted. The first model (ALST, in kg = 0.074*height + 0.277*weight - 0.144*triceps skinfold - 0.103*waist circumference + 1.831*gender -0.966), which considered all possible variables in stepwise multiple regression, presented better statistical performance (r2 = 0.82; SEE = 1.67 kg), compared to the second model (ALST, in kg = 0.138*height + 0.103*weight + 3.061*gender - 12.489), a more practical equation, due to a lesser quantity of predictive variables (r2 = 0.75; SEE = 1.94 kg). Both models were validated, however, it was verified trend (p<0.05) for overestimation of predicted ALST. CONCLUSION: In summary, two models for predicting ALST in men and women with age ≥ 80 years were developed and cross-validated. Model 1, with a greater number of predictive variables, presented a better accuracy than did the model with only three variables (height, weight, and gender). Validation studies are needed to test the usefulness of both models in other populations.

The effects of physical fitness and body composition on oxygen consumption and heart rate recovery after high-intensity exercise.

The aim of this study was to investigate the potential relationship between excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), heart rate recovery (HRR) and their respective time constants (tvo2 and t HR) and body composition and aerobic fitness (VO2max) variables after an anaerobic effort. 14 professional cyclists (age=28.4±4.8 years, height=176.0±6.7 cm, body mass=74.4±8.1 kg, VO2max=66.8±7.6 mL·kg - 1·min - 1) were recruited. Each athlete made 3 visits to the laboratory with 24 h between each visit. During the first visit, a total and segmental body composition assessment was carried out. During the second, the athletes undertook an incremental test to determine VO2max. In the final visit, EPOC (15-min) and HRR were measured after an all-out 30 s Wingate test. The results showed that EPOC is positively associated with % body fat (r=0.64), total body fat (r=0.73), fat-free mass (r=0.61) and lower limb fat-free mass (r=0.55) and negatively associated with HRR (r= - 0.53, p<0.05 for all). HRR had a significant negative correlation with total body fat and % body fat (r= - 0.62, r= - 0.56 respectively, p<0.05 for all). These findings indicate that VO2max does not influence HRR or EPOC after high-intensity exercise. Even in short-term exercise, the major metabolic disturbance due to higher muscle mass and total muscle mass may increase EPOC. However, body fat impedes HRR and delays recovery of oxygen consumption after effort in highly trained athletes.

The effect of the aerobic training on morphological and histochemical characteristics of tibial anterior muscle in rats fed with high fat diet

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of high fat diet and different frequencies of swimming programs in the tibial anterior muscle in male Wistar rats. In conclusion, the aerobic training during two days/week and five days/week caused injuries in muscle fibers and the high fat diet did not cause statically significant results compared to normal diet.

El objetivo de este estudio fue investigar el efecto de dietas ricas en grasas y diferentes frecuencias de natación, en el músculo tibial anterior, de ratas machos Wistar. El entrenamiento aeróbico, durante dos y cinco días por semana, causó lesiones en las fibras musculares y la dieta alta en grasa, no produjo resultados estadísticamente significativos, en comparación con la dieta normal.