Ultra Pirineu 2017: características de los corredores de élite y de no élite y efectos sobre la salud de una maratón de montaña: estudio piloto Serialmed-UP / Ultra Pirineu 2017: Characteristics of elite and non-elite runners and effects on health of a mountain marathon: Serialmed-UP pilot study

Introducción: Incremento del número de participantes en carreras de larga distancia, así como el interés por conocer sus efectos sobre la salud. El objetivo principal es analizar las características de los corredores de una maratón de montaña, sus efectos sobre la salud y si existen diferencias entre los corredores de élite y de no élite. Métodos: El estudio Serialmed-UP es un estudio piloto, observacional, de cohortes prospectivo que se realizó en la Maratón Ultra Pirineu 2017. Se realizó una encuesta sobre hábitos de salud, alimentarios y de entrenamiento a los corredores de no élite. Se midieron las variables clínicas y analíticas antes y después de la carrera. Se realizó un estudio descriptivo y comparativo entre resultados antes y después de la carrera entre corredores de élite y de no élite. Resultados: Participaron 29 corredores, 22 de no élite y 7 de élite. Los de no élite son principalmente varones de mediana edad de 39 años, con buena salud cardiovascular (el 90,9% con revisiones médicas recientes), con alta carga de entrenamientos (asesoramiento profesional en el 72,7%) y buenos hábitos alimentarios (asesoramiento en el 54,5%). Antes de la carrera no había alteraciones clínicas ni analíticas, pero el 33,3% presentaban alteraciones en el ECG. Los hallazgos más destacables post-carrera fueron pérdida de peso (3% del peso corporal), insuficiencia renal aguda (66,7%) y alteraciones en el sodio (44%), fueron más significativos en los corredores de no élite. Conclusiones: Las carreras de larga distancia tienen repercusión en la salud de los corredores, sobre todo en los de no élite. Es necesario realizar más investigaciones para poder aportar recomendaciones personalizadas basadas en la evidencia científica

Introduction: There is an increase in the number of participants in long distance races as well as the interest in knowing their effects on health. Our main objective is to analyse the characteristics of mountain marathon runner, its effects on health and whether there are differences between elite and non-elite runners. Methods: The Serialmed-UP is a pilot, observational (cohort) prospective study carried out at the Ultra Pirineu Marathon 2017. A survey of health, nutrition and training habits was carried out among non-élite runners. Clinical and analytical variables were measured before and after the race. A descriptive and comparative study was performed between results before and after the race and among élite and non-élite runners. Results: 29 runners participated in the study, 22 non-élite and 7 élite. The non-élite were mostly men with a median age of 39 years-old, with good cardiovascular health (90.9% with recent medical check-ups), with a high load of training (professional counselling in 72.7%) and good eating habits (counselling in 54.5%). Before the race, there were no clinical or analytical alterations but 33.3% had alterations in the ECG. The most notable findings after the race were weight loss (3% of body weight), acute renal failure (66.7%) and alterations in sodium (44%), being these alterations more significant in non-élite runners. Conclusions: Long distance races have an impact on runners' health, especially among non-élite runners. We need more research in order to offer personalised recommendations based on scientific evidence

Fatty alcohols production by oleaginous yeast.

We have engineered Rhodosporidium toruloides to produce fatty alcohols by expressing a fatty acyl-CoA reductase from Marinobacter aquaeolei VT8. Production of fatty alcohols in flasks was achieved in different fermentation media at titers ranging from 0.2 to 2 g/L. In many of the conditions tested, more than 80 % of fatty alcohols were secreted into the cultivation broth. Through fed-batch fermentation in 7 L bioreactors, over 8 g/L of C(16)-C(18) fatty alcohols were produced using sucrose as the substrate. This is the highest titer ever reported on microbial production of fatty alcohols to date.

Activity of maize transglutaminase overexpressed in Escherichia coli inclusion bodies: an alternative to protein refolding.

Transglutaminases (TGases) catalyze protein post-translational modification by ε-(γ-glutamyl) links and covalent polyamine conjugation. In plants, this enzyme is poorly characterized and only the maize plastidial TGase gene (tgz) has been cloned. The tgz gene (Patent WWO03102128) had been subcloned and overexpressed in Escherichia coli cells, and the recombinant protein (TGZp) was present mainly in inclusion bodies (IB) fraction. In this work, after overexpression of TGZ15p and SDS-PAGE IB fraction analysis, bands about 65 and 56 kDa were obtained. Western blot, alkylation and MALDI-TOF/TOF analyses indicated that the 56 kDa band corresponded to a truncated sequence from the native TGZ15p (expected MW 65 kDa), by elimination of a chloroplast signal peptide fragment during expression processing. So that large-scale protein production and protein crystallization can be applied, we characterized the TGZ15p enzyme activity in the IB protein fraction, with and without refolding. Results indicate that it presented the biochemical characteristics of other described TGases, showing a certain plant-substrate preference. Solubilization of the IB fraction with Triton X-100 as nondenaturing detergent yielded active TGZ without the need for refolding, giving activity values comparable to those of the refolded protein, indicating that this is a valuable, faster way to obtain TGZ active protein.

Amyloid-like protein inclusions in tobacco transgenic plants.

The formation of insoluble protein deposits in human tissues is linked to the onset of more than 40 different disorders, ranging from dementia to diabetes. In these diseases, the proteins usually self-assemble into ordered ß-sheet enriched aggregates known as amyloid fibrils. Here we study the structure of the inclusions formed by maize transglutaminase (TGZ) in the chloroplasts of tobacco transplastomic plants and demonstrate that they have an amyloid-like nature. Together with the evidence of amyloid structures in bacteria and fungi our data argue that amyloid formation is likely a ubiquitous process occurring across the different kingdoms of life. The discovery of amyloid conformations inside inclusions of genetically modified plants might have implications regarding their use for human applications.

Dark-lumen MR colonography with fecal tagging: a comparison of water enema and air methods of colonic distension for detecting colonic neoplasms.

The purpose was to evaluate MR colonography (MRC) with barium fecal tagging in detecting colorectal pathology and to determine how air-based and water-based colonic distension influences MRC. We studied 83 patients with high risk of colonic neoplasms. All received oral barium sulfate for colonic preparation before unenhanced and enhanced T1-weighted gradient-echo MRC using either water (n=54) or air (n=29) for colonic distension. Fecal tagging, distension, and artifacts were recorded. All patients underwent conventional colonoscopy within 2 weeks of MRC; the techniques were compared for detection of malignant neoplasms and polyps >or=1 cm, 6-9 mm, and or=1 cm, but more air-distended MRC were excluded for poor quality. MRC with fecal tagging is useful for detecting lesions >or=1 cm. Air distension was inferior to water distension in most aspects. Water-based colonic distension should be used for barium-tagging MRC.