Hypothalamic inflammation is reversed by endurance training in anorectic-cachectic rats

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Aim</p> <p>We tested the effects of a cancer cachexia-anorexia sydrome upon the balance of anti and pro-inflammatory cytokines in the hypothalamus of sedentary or trained tumour-bearing (Walker-256 carcinosarcoma) rats.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Animals were randomly assigned to a sedentary control (SC), sedentary tumour-bearing (ST), and sedentary pair-fed (SPF) groups or, exercised control (EC), exercised tumour-bearing (ET) and exercised pair-fed (EPF) groups. Trained rats ran on a treadmill (60%VO_2max) for 60 min/d, 5 days/wk, for 8 wks. We evaluated food intake, leptin and cytokine (TNF-α, IL1β) levels in the hypothalamus.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The cumulative food intake and serum leptin concentration were reduced in ST compared to SC. Leptin gene expression in the retroperitoneal adipose tissue (RPAT) was increased in SPF in comparison with SC and ST, and in the mesenteric adipose tissue (MEAT) the same parameter was decreased in ST in relation to SC. Leptin levels in RPAT and MEAT were decreased in ST, when compared with SC. Exercise training was also able to reduce tumour weight when compared to ST group. In the hypothalamus, IL-1β and IL-10 gene expression was higher in ST than in SC and SPF. Cytokine concentration in hypothalamus was higher in ST (TNF-α and IL-1β, p < 0.05), compared with SC and SPF. These pro-inflammatory cytokines concentrations were restored to control values (p < 0.05), when the animals were submitted to endurance training.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Cancer-induced anorexia leads towards a pro-inflammatory state in the hypothalamus, which is prevented by endurance training which induces an anti-inflammatory state, with concomitant decrease of tumour weight.</p

Wood Formation Modeling - A Research Review and Future Perspectives.

Wood formation has received considerable attention across various research fields as a key process to model. Historical and contemporary models of wood formation from various disciplines have encapsulated hypotheses such as the influence of external (e.g., climatic) or internal (e.g., hormonal) factors on the successive stages of wood cell differentiation. This review covers 17 wood formation models from three different disciplines, the earliest from 1968 and the latest from 2020. The described processes, as well as their external and internal drivers and their level of complexity, are discussed. This work is the first systematic cataloging, characterization, and process-focused review of wood formation models. Remaining open questions concerning wood formation processes are identified, and relate to: (1) the extent of hormonal influence on the final tree ring structure; (2) the mechanism underlying the transition from earlywood to latewood in extratropical regions; and (3) the extent to which carbon plays a role as "active" driver or "passive" substrate for growth. We conclude by arguing that wood formation models remain to be fully exploited, with the potential to contribute to studies concerning individual tree carbon sequestration-storage dynamics and regional to global carbon sequestration dynamics in terrestrial vegetation models

Chronic effect of training on neutrophil functions in humans

We performed this study to evaluate the chronic effect of training on neutrophil functions in humans. Twenty-six university students (14 males and 12 females) with a mean age of 19.1±0.8 years were divided into the athlete group and the control group based on answers given to a written questionnaire. The capacity of circulating neutrophils to ingest bacteria (phagocytosis) and to produce superoxide (nitroblue tetrazolium reduction) was measured under resting conditions in the absence of training activities. In addition, we measured hematological and serum biochemical parameters